🌈📘🎥Friday's Film Adaptation🎥📘🌈: Tell it to the Bees by Fiona Shaw

Summary:

A spellbinding story of forbidden love in the 1950s, now a major movie starring Anna Paquin and Holliday Grainger

A secret love which has a whole town talking ... and a small boy very worried.

Lydia Weekes is distraught at the break-up of her marriage. When her young son, Charlie, makes friends with the local doctor, Jean Markham, her life is turned upside down.

Charlie tells his secrets to no one but the bees, but even he can't keep his mother's friendship to himself. The locals don't like things done differently. As Lydia and the doctor become closer, the rumours start to fly and threaten to shatter Charlie's world.

The town was so small, just a dent in the landscape. Charlie could have held it in his fist. He drove carefully on this side of the road, down from the hills, down from the sky, towards the puddle of trees and buildings, the green and the grey that had made his home. 

He was taller of course, at least two foot taller. But the town was smaller by leagues. By acres and oceans. This he had not been expecting. 

He picked the calico bag off the back seat and slung it over his shoulder. He put money in the meter and locked the car. There was something he had got to do, but not at once. First he needed to walk. 

So he walked through the town, from remembered place to remembered place. His street and his house. The blue bridge, which was red now. The towpath where there was still broken glass, still dirt and tired weeds, and across the river, the factory. He stood and stared across the brown water like he used to do twenty years ago, watching for his mother, but it was too early for the hooter and the women coming out in their crowds, and the factory only purred to itself. 

He walked round the park, tagging the railings as he’d done as a boy, then rubbing the dry dirt from his fingers like salt. He looked in at the ornamental beds where the same flowers grew in lozenges of purple and yellow and red. 

Beyond the park, up on the hill, was the doctor’s house. When he was a boy it was miles away. It was much closer now. He was there in ten minutes. But there were gates at the end of the drive and he couldn’t see in. So he walked on up, alongside the garden wall, and high above were the branches of the beech tree, fresh with the year’s new green. He stopped and put a hand to the wall. 

‘You’re putting it off,’ he told himself. ‘Go now.’

It took longer to walk back again. His feet dragged and the calico bag banged awkwardly. He’d felt quite calm so far, but now his mouth was dry. 

‘It’s nothing,’ he told himself. ‘There’s nothing to lose.’ 

The waste ground at the top of the street had gone. He’d played there as a boy, or watched other boys play, more often. Once he’d seen a cat run howling, tin cans tied to its tail. Now, where there had been wild trees and dead armchairs, there were maisonettes in brown brick. 

Charlie walked on down the street and everything went quiet. His heart beat hard. He stopped at a door. It was still green; the paint scuffed on the weatherboard. Though his pulse echoed in his ears, he felt nothing. Perhaps the house was empty. There was no sign of life in the windows. 

‘Knock then, Charlie,’ he said, and he took his hands from his pockets. 

Perhaps it was only a minute he stood there, perhaps it was longer but finally he knocked. Nothing happened. 

‘Just go,’ he told himself. ‘There’s nothing left here.’ 

He waited a moment longer. 

‘Come on,’ he said. The meter would be running out and he had a long drive ahead. ‘It doesn’t matter.’ 

But as he turned to go, there was a sound from inside, a door banging. Then footsteps, dragging and slow, and somebody was turning a key in the lock. 

‘Dead trouble now, Charlie,’ he said.

Slowly the door opened. The air from inside smelled of dust and cabbage. The old man smelled of something else. He wore slippers on his feet and his trousers were hitched high above his belly. He looked at Charlie. 

‘What do you want?’ he said at last.

1

You came upon the pond quite suddenly, if you didn’t know it was there. It lay in a dip of grass, like a sixpence in the palm of the hand. A ring of water that carried the sky in its eye. 

This day, at this time, it was busy. Ducks cruised in the green water, courted by children and their bags of stale bread. Pigeons crowded at the children’s feet, hammering their heads for crumbs, their beaks worrying, disrespectful. Squatted at the pond’s lip, several girls fished with nets in the shallows, and tricycles and scooters rode the gentle curve with all the speed their small riders could muster. Three or four boys sailed their boats. 

As always, there were people who took the pond in their stride, cresting the hill without that pause of pleasure. They had their sights set somewhere else and the park was the fastest route to get there. At this hour, which was between three and four o’clock in the afternoon, there were only occasional figures like this, whose working costumes rested heavy and conspicuous on their shoulders as they passed by. They carried briefcases, or important bags, and wore suits and shiny shoes and serious expressions. The women among them often found the wind tricky and some blushed as their skirts played about, or wished for a moment for the harsh limits of their old Utility clothes, which the wind couldn’t toy with. So the women would walk even faster than the men to be gone and away, safely back indoors again. 

Sometimes something gave one of these brisk people pause. A broken heel, or a friend. Very occasionally one of them would stop to sit on a bench for a minute. Today a woman with a Gladstone bag and careful shoes checked her stride, though she didn’t appear to have broken a heel, turned an ankle, or to know anyone. Sitting on the bench edge, bag beside her, she nodded politely to the old men with their talk of dirty carburettors, and they nodded in return. One of them thought to greet her by name and then thought better of it, finding her head already turned away. 

The woman glanced about her, checked her watch and then, coming to some decision with herself, she put the bag on the ground, leaned back into the municipal curve of wood and looked at the pond. 

The breeze was whippy and the boats were struggling, even with their sails trimmed right back. The woman watched. There was one especially that caught her eye. It had a white sail with the number 431 and a blue fish leaping, and it was flirting with disaster, heeled so far over that capsize seemed the only course. She looked across at the boys on the far side. She could see at once which one’s boat this was. 

While the others ran and danced this way and that, chipping and jeering into the wind, their voices high and slight, willing their boats across, one boy stood quite still, his body keen and tight, with eyes only for the blue fish. He must be about ten years old, one of those boys so skinny, all elbow and knee in flannel shorts and short-sleeved shirt, that you’re surprised when they move at their grace. 

But it was his boat that came in first, scudding sharp and fast into the pond edge and he kneeled and leaned forward, arms wide in a cradle, lifting it clear in a single fluid movement, so that it seemed for a moment as though boy and boat were part of the same force. 

Once he had it safe, the boy’s concentration was broken, and he flaunted his victory in a whooping dance. Absently, the woman checked her watch again. There was time yet. For these last minutes, the boat and boy had filled the woman’s sight. When she stood up, all else would muscle in and she’d be back on the path, back in her brisk walk. She glanced around. The sun had gone off the pond and children were being called to put on sweaters and cardigans. The old men stashed their pipes and nodded their leave. She searched for her boat boy and found him again, slouching slowly up the hill not so very far from her bench, boat beneath one arm. 

On the hill a young woman stood waiting. She held a book in her hand, a finger still between the pages. His mother, she must be – the same tousled hair, the same way of standing, body alert. Only where he had waited for his boat, she waited for her boy. 

She was smiling and he came up to her, like a foal to the mare, bucking a little as if to show his own separate spirit, but eager to be close. The mother took the boat from his unwilling arms and placed it on the grass, untied the sweater from the boy’s middle and gathered it up, easing it down over his reluctant head before he ducked away, pulling his arms through the sleeves, running now towards the trees behind. 

The woman with the bag watched them. It had been the boy who had caught her eye, and now it was his mother. She looked the sort who worked in the electrical factory. She probably wore her working clothes beneath her coat. The woman would bet on it. And she didn’t know her own beauty. That was there in the offhand way she had with herself. 

The woman shook her head, as if to break some connection. Picking up the Gladstone bag, she left the bench and took up her stride again, away and off. She stopped at the top of the rise, before the pond was out of sight, turned and looked, but the boy and his mother were gone.

In 1950s small town Britain, a doctor develops a relationship with her young patient's mother.

Release Date: September 9, 2018

Release Time: 106 minutes

Director: Annabel Jankel

Cast:

Anna Paquin as Jean Markham

Holliday Grainger as Lydia Weekes

Emun Elliott as Robert Weekes

Lauren Lyle as Annie Cranmer

Gregor Selkirk as Charlie Weekes

Billy Boyd as adult Charlie narrator

Kate Dickie as Pam Cranmer

Steven Robertson as Jim

Author Bio:

I was born in London in 1964. My place of birth is now a hospital broom cupboard and my first home was on a street later obliterated beneath a superstore off the Cromwell Rd. However I passed most of my childhood as the eldest of three girls in a house in south London, very near the Thames.

I studied at the University of York and the University of Sussex, completing my academic studies in York with a PhD on the wonderful American poet, Elizabeth Bishop.

Since then I’ve written a memoir and five novels and done the habitual round of the novelist’s other jobs to help balance out my stubborn desire to write.

My most ‘literary’ jobs have been working as a Royal Literary Fund writing fellow, running a reading-round book group (also for the RLF), and working as a senior lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Northumbria.

I live in York with my partner. I have two daughters, two cats, and two bicycles, in that order of importance. I read a great deal, cycle everywhere, sing in a Finnish ‘a cappella group’, grow vegetables with variable success and acquire more films than I ever get around to watching.

TWITTER  /  WEBSITE  /  KOBO

SERPENTS TAIL  /  GOOGLE PLAY

PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE  /  AUDIBLE

BOOKBUB  /  INDIE BOUND  /  B&N

AMAZON  /  WIKI  /  GOODREADS

AMAZON US  /  AMAZON UK

B&N  /  KOBO  /  SERPENTS TAIL

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WEBSITE  /  GOODREADS TBR

Film

AMAZON US  /  AMAZON UK

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ALL MOVIE  /  WIKI  /  IMDB

Saturday's Series Spotlight: Vale Valley Season One Part 1

Mated Under the Mistletoe by Connor Crowe

Summary:

Vale Valley Season One #1

Like your favorite Hallmark Christmas movie...only way more gay.

A Dragon In Denial...

Sebastian Wallace spread his wings (literally) and left Vale Valley for business school in the city the moment he was able. Ambitious and full of big ideas, he wanted to find his own place in the world. With an MBA under his belt and a startup business venture in New York, things are looking up. Until he gets the call that his mother has passed away and left him The Dozing Dragon, her bed and breakfast, in the will. Sebastian returns to his hometown, hoping to make it a quick trip. But when he reconnects with a sweet omega in the Valley, everything changes.

A Haunted Omega...

Will Sterling can see things no one should. In a town full of shifters and other paranormals, you'd think seeing ghosts would be no biggie. Afraid of his own power, Will does his best to live a "normal" life and keeps himself busy at the local garden shop. But things are starting to change in Vale Valley. The yearly fireworks show ended five years ago when a stray rocket sent the place up in flames. And now The Dozing Dragon's sudden closure fills Will with dread for what might come next. When the owner's son returns to town, dare he hope for a better future?

With Sebastian's help, can they save the Dozing Dragon and bring back the fireworks in time for Christmas? And does Will's secret power hold the key to both?

Mated Under The Mistletoe is the first book in a multi-author series about Vale Valley, a small town open to everyone in need of love and a home. Each installment can be read as a standalone.

It contains way too many dirty jokes, plants with a mind of their own, mpreg, and more sweets than Willy Wonka's factory. Pull up a chair, grab your hot cocoa, and settle in for this heartwarming holiday read!

Twice as Joyful by Lorelei M Hart

Summary:

Vale Valley Season One #2

Sometimes the ones who got away never really did…

Omega Bryce, stuck in a dead-end job that barely makes ends meet, doesn’t have time to act as executor for his dearly departed uncle’s estate—especially since it means going back to Vale Valley, home of many of his best (and long-past) memories. He’s even more unwilling to let his uncle down. But when Bryce arrives only to discover the lawyer he needs to meet with has closed up shop for the holidays, he decides to stay in his uncle’s cabin for a few days.

Alpha Houston had no intention of ever returning to Vale Valley after he joined the Coast Guard nearly a decade earlier. But the news that he’s been named Sal’s executor draws him back. He decides to stay at the cabin and is shocked when he returns with groceries to find Bryce, his old crush, looking and smelling every bit as delicious as Houston remembered.

Alpha Dante never left Vale Valley—not that it mattered, since both his hearts took off years ago. When Sal passes and names him executor of the estate, it’s like a door finally closing on that chapter of his life. After all, why would either Houston or Bryce ever return? When he sees them again, though, he feels his past has returned and is being dangled in front of him as a possible future.

The three men fall back into their old friendship with ease—and the lust they felt all those years ago is only magnified. This time, though, they don’t ignore it, allowing the magic of the season to thrust them into what they always truly wanted.

But with adult commitments looming and so much time lost, is it too late for their happily ever after?

Twice as Joyful is part of a multi-author series about Vale Valley, a small town open to everyone in need of love and a home. Each installment can be read as a standalone.

Nestle up with your cup of cocoa and enjoy this MMM non-shifter super sweet with knotty omegaverse second-chance romance featuring three reunited best friends, some mistletoe mischief, and a surprise gift that will warm your heart, all set in the mystical, magical, love-filled Vale Valley!

Three Roses by Alice Shaw

Summary:

Vale Valley Season One #3

A rose by any other name can still fall for two alphas…

Alphas Ozzie and Aidrick believe all they need to make their relationship complete is a baby. But after several surrogates cancel their plans with the alpha couple, they’re beginning to lose hope. When they receive a mysterious brochure for the magical town of Vale Valley, it turns out to be exactly the new home they need.

Omega Tommy has no idea who he really is. Alone and close to freezing, he’s saved when the two alphas follow Ozzie’s dream to the top of Onyx Mountain and find him lying next to three immaculate roses growing in the snow. The alphas’ love warms his body and heart, and their relationship is cemented when the three of them finally give in to the lust they feel for each other.

But before they can fully commit, the thruple must complete their quest to find Tommy’s true identity—and once there’s a baby on the way, the clock is ticking!

Three Roses is part of a multi-author series about Vale Valley, a small town open to everyone in need of love and a home. Each installment can be read as a standalone.

It's a MMM Mpreg romance featuring two hot, kinky, gorgeous alphas, an omega who needs the love his alphas have to give, a magic music box, and a surprise gift that will warm your heart, all set in the mystical, magical, love-filled Vale Valley!

Mated Under the Mistletoe by Connor Crowe

The Phone Call 

Sebastian 

“Merry Christmas, Mr. Wallace!” 

Hannah poked her head into my office, brandishing a glittery card and a very festive looking cupcake. 

A quick glance at the calendar on my desktop read December 1. I turned to Hannah and gave her my best smile. “You going to keep doing this every day till Christmas?” I asked. “There’s still a whole month left.” 

She gave me her best pouty face. “And who says I can’t start celebrating early? Besides, if there’s cupcakes in it for you, you can’t be too grumpy about it.” 

She had a point. I shrugged and took the card and cupcake from her, setting them on my desk next to all the day’s paperwork. “Thank you, Hannah.” I turned back to her. “And you know you can call me Sebastian. I may be the CEO, but I don’t want anyone to feel they can’t approach me. We’re in this together.” 

Hannah bobbed her head up and down. The tight black ponytail she always wore bounced from side to side, and that’s when I realized: she was wearing a jingle bells hair tie. 

Lord, this was gonna be a long month. 

“Of course, Mr.—I mean Sebastian. Can I call you Seb? I was coming in here to let you know I’m traveling for the holidays starting December 12th. My family has this whole crazy 12 days of Christmas tradition, and I couldn’t miss it…”

The twelfth. So soon. 

I rubbed my forehead, trying to come up with a response. But she looked so excited about going home, so sure that I’d say yes, that I couldn’t resist. 

“Oh, all right. But you know we have some big deadlines coming up. Think you’ll be able to finish your work before you leave?” 

“I will, promise. Thank you Seb!” With that, she bounced out the door, her musical hair tie ringing as she went. 

The door clattered closed and I returned to the computer. Less than a month until Christmas. And so much yet to do. 

I wondered why I’d given in so easily to Hannah’s request. I wasn’t exactly known for being the most festive this time of year. But there was a reason for that. 

When I saw Hannah’s eyes light up as she talked about her family, it touched something inside me. Something I’d lost, long ago. Hope? Happiness? Joy for the future? 

Didn’t matter now though. What mattered was closing this deal before Christmas. Everyone knew nearly the entire month of December was a dead zone for work getting done, but it wasn’t like I had a choice. 

I’d busted my ass getting Wallace Innovations off the ground, and now we were one of the up and coming consulting firms in New York City. 

That came with a price, though. My people were feeling the strain of all the work, and I was too, much as I didn’t want to admit it. Our reputation for quick and stellar service meant we were working basically all the time, and while it was fun at first, lost in the heady haze of adrenaline and bootstrapping the business, it was starting to wear on us. All of us.  

I ran a hand through my hair and stared at the computer screen, my eyes glazing over. Deep inside, my dragon roared. It didn’t like being cooped up like this. I knew that much. But I’d never asked to be a shifter. Especially in the cutthroat world of business, coming out as a shifter would only be a liability. So I kept to myself and buried those parts of me deep, deep within.  

I left my hometown as soon as I could and set off for the big city. I didn’t want any part of their games. I wanted to prove to myself that I could be more than nature had decided for me.  

And it worked. Sorta.  

With an MBA in hand, they said I’d have my pick of opportunities. So what did I do? Started my own business, of course. Something about me and authority never really meshed too well. Hell, I nearly got kicked out of school a couple times. But I remembered why I was there in the first place and doubled down. Tripled down.  

I needed school, just as I needed to keep my shifter at bay. I needed routine and discipline to make up for my weaknesses. And there were many.  

When’s the last time you’ve stretched your wings? A little voice came from within. I shook my head and squinted at the spreadsheet even more aggressively, like that would make the thoughts go away. 

You need to get out. A dragon isn’t meant to be cooped up in an office. 

“I’m not a dragon,” I muttered through gritted teeth. “I’m a man.” 

And an alpha, it teased. When are you going to find a mate? 

When I’m done here, was the first answer that came to mind, but it wasn’t a good one. Anyone could tell you that any endeavor, creative or otherwise, was never truly done. You simply built it the best you could and then took that leap of faith, putting it out into the world.  

Yeah. It was that leaping part I wasn’t so good at sometimes.

My thoughts returned to Hannah’s jingling pigtails and the festive cheer on her face when mentioning going home for Christmas. Had I stayed in Vale Valley, there probably would have been a huge celebration for the season. There always was, at least when I was a kid. All the shifters got together and ran, flew, or swam free, the night of Christmas Eve. A way to ring in the season.  

But my favorite part of it all? No question. The yearly Festival of Fire was one of the things I missed most about Vale Valley. That and Rosemary Vale. She was the mayor of the town and one of the sweetest old ladies I’d ever met. I almost regretted leaving her when I ‘spread my wings’ after high school and left town. Always there with a kind word or a helping hand, she seemed to be everywhere at once, and had an uncanny knack for knowing what others wanted or needed, even when they didn’t quite know it themselves.  

Growing up in Vale Valley, it wasn’t that weird, though. It was an enclave of shifters and non shifters alike, held in balance by a magical force field around the town. A spell hung over the valley, ensuring that only the full hearted would ever find the place. 

If you’re lost and need love and a warm home, Vale Valley will be there for you. 

I mouthed the words of our hometown slogan. So cheery. So cheesy. So...optimistic. They lived in a bubble, without a care for the goings-on of the real world. More than a little irresponsible, if you asked me. 

But they’d made their choices. Just as I’d made mine. And business was picking up here in NYC. Just had to dig myself and my team out from under this mountain of work we’d created for ourselves... 

The phone rang and I startled, jostling the cup of pens on the desk and sending them flying.

I cleared my throat and grabbed the phone, taking a quick moment to exhale and ground myself.  

“Hello, Wallace Innovations. This is Sebastian Wallace speaking.” 

“Sebastian. Oh, thank god I got the right number. I wasn’t sure, took me quite a bit of digging to find you out there in the wide world.” 

I froze. I knew that voice. Hadn’t heard it in years, but still I knew it like the back of my hand.  

That was Rosemary Vale.  

“Rose,” I breathed. “How’d you find me?” 

“You know I’ve always had a knack for that, sweetheart.” 

I huffed in amusement. “I know. But why now?” 

She grew silent for a moment, then choose her words carefully. “I wish I was contacting you under better circumstances, Sebastian. But it’s your mother.” 

I froze. Blinked. Surely I hadn’t heard that right.  

“Sebastian?” Rose asked on the other line. “You there?”  

“Yeah,” I croaked. “What happened to her?” 

When I left Vale Valley, I hadn’t done so on the best of terms. I was ready to get out and see the world. I was ready to take life into my own hands, something I hadn’t quite been able to do back at home.  

Silence strung out on the end of the line. A lump built up in my throat. Sure, I left out of rebellion and anger, but if something had happened to her... 

“I hate to be the one to tell you this, Seb. But Nellie died in her sleep last night. Totally unexpected, mind you. But she went peacefully.”

I gripped the phone so hard my knuckles hurt. “Wha-?” I stammered. She didn’t actually say ‘died’. She didn’t. 

“I’m so sorry, Sebastian. Your mother has passed away.” 

Memories flooded back all at once. I drowned in them. All the things I’d never told her. And all the things I wish I could have done, could have said... 

She went to her grave believing that her only son had abandoned her. 

I vaguely heard Rose’s voice on the other end of the line, but she sounded far away now. Distant. 

“It was sudden, but she had a rough will drafted up not long ago. She was in perfect health beforehand, far as we could tell. But these things happen sometimes, unfortunately. The only problem now is her estate. Since you’re the next-of-kin, you need to be here.” 

“I...yeah. When?” My mind spun. There was so much left to finish here, but if my mom was dead, did it even matter? 

“Vale Valley needs you, Sebastian.” Rose echoed the same words that had been on my mind. “It’s time to come home.” 

“Yeah,” I breathed, scrabbling around on the desk for something to write with. “I’ll get there on the next flight out. I...let me just notify my staff.” 

“See you soon, Sebastian. You know Vale Valley will always be here to welcome you home.” 

I sat there for a few moments in the silence of the office. How things had changed. Nothing like a death in the family to get you to re-evaluate your priorities.  

Even if we weren’t ever very close...in fact, because of that, it felt so much more raw. Like the rug had been ripped out from under me with no warning, no chance to make things right.

I’d never get the chance to make amends with her. Never again get the chance to tell her I loved her. It wasn’t fair. 

No, more than that. It was wrong. This wasn’t supposed to happen! 

My dragon reared up inside me, screeching in pain and grief. Gone! It shrieked. She’s gone! 

Mother! 

Everything felt cold. Distant. Out of touch. There was a knock at my door, but I barely even registered it.  

I needed to tell the team. Then I needed to get my ass to Vale Valley.

Twice as Joyful by Lorelei M Hart

Chapter One 

Brian 

Vale Valley. 

I hadn’t been there since the summer after college graduation. That had been one of my fondest childhood memories, too, hanging out for the week with my uncle Sal just fishing and carving wood into nothing even if the intent had always been some kind of animal, and learning all of the constellations. 

This trip was not going to be one of those fond memories. No. Sal had passed from our world and for reasons I’d never understand, he left me the executor of his estate. Me, the college graduate still sharing a one-bedroom apartment with two other people to be able to afford rent because of bad student loan decisions a decade earlier. I was far from the person who should be trusted with money, especially not money destined to be mine. 

The entire thing was a hot mess, and I was about out of personal leave at work, using the last of it to come to Vale Valley to meet with some lawyer who was somehow connected to the estate. Thank goodness it was going to piggyback on the Christmas closure or I’d have been good and fired. 

I drove down the road looking for the offices of James Madison Esquire, my GPS and phone not even pretending to work. The town was so much smaller than I remembered which worked out well, given I didn’t have a map. I found Elm Ave. fairly quickly, and from there it was easy peasy lemon squeezy to find the office. Which would’ve been amazingly magnificent had the office not had a large Closed for the Holidays sign on it. 

“Fuck.” My head fell to the steering wheel. I had wanted to come, take care of whatever needed doing, and be out of there in time to possibly regain one of my days off. 

A pine cone fell onto my windshield, bouncing down onto the hood before rolling off the car, startling the crap out of me. It startled me back to the reality that I needed to find a place to stay, at least for the night. I could regroup again in the morning and figure out if I should go home and wait for the lawyer to come back from the less-than-informative sign on the door that had not a date on it. 

I’d passed an inn on the way in, and had I some money I’d have considered it, but my paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle made that not the wisest move. 

Instead, I opted to head out to my uncle’s cabin. I was pretty sure I remembered the way and even if he’d started locking the doors, something he never did back then, I’d probably be able to break in, as not ideal as that was. 

I only had to turn around twice before I found the cabin of my memories. From the outside, nothing had changed—the metal roof still had a dent from when the large oak lost a branch after being hit by lightning, the front porch still lopsided, and the front door decorated with a wreath. It was like coming home except no Uncle Sal. 

Sorrow I’d been pushing down the entire trip bubbled over and tears trickled down my cheeks. 

I’d complained to myself and others that the PTO and money and my car being old were the reasons I didn’t want to do this job and while every single one of those were valid, the true reason, the one I tried to hide even from myself, was the combination of guilt and grief I held inside over my uncle’s death. 

I’d known something was wrong when he didn’t show up for family Thanksgiving. Sure, the excuse was that he had work to do on the cabin to get ready for winter, that it had snuck up on him. Except that wasn’t the Sal I nor anyone else knew. Yet, I let that worry, that concern go unexpressed. 

Would he still be alive had I checked on him? Absolutely not. Cancer didn’t play that way. Once it had its eyes set on you, you were on its timeline. But I could’ve spent time with him, gone on that fishing trip he’d been nagging me about, helped him get the new generator hooked up, so many things.

But I had been a selfish jerk, using my job as an excuse, using my car as an excuse, using my plans as an excuse, when in reality none of that had been even a smidgeon more important than seeing the man who treated me more than just a beta. He never knew that I was an omega, as I discovered that only after his demise, even though doctors suspected it earlier. He treated me like the man he saw me to be, not a label. 

And in return, what did I do? I focused on me. The exact opposite of the way Sal taught me to be. 

As the tears slowed, I climbed out of the car to find, sure enough, the front door was not locked. The front room, which opened into the kitchen, wasn’t the mess I feared it would be. Someone had been there since his passing and, at the very least, taken the dishes out of the drainer, for my uncle never once had that thing empty. 

We had complied with Sal’s wishes not to have a funeral or any kind of celebration of life, so the cleanliness of the place puzzled me. I dropped my duffle bag with a thud and made quick use of the bathroom, finding the towel already damp. 

The someone had been there recently. 

Maybe it was the lawyer or someone he hired, I rationalized as I went back into the kitchen, grabbed a garbage bag, and prepared to take out all the gross condiments from at least a decade earlier that somehow always occupied the space. I swung the door to the fridge open, expecting the worst to instead find it stocked with food—real food, not old condiments and not anything green and fuzzy. 

I’d been wrong. No one had been there to clean. Someone had been squatting. This was not going to end well. 

And as if on cue, headlights shone through the front window, and I instinctively grabbed the fireplace poker, crossing my fingers I hadn’t brought a spoon to a knife fight.

Three Roses by Alice Shaw

Prologue: Ozzie 

“Baby, wake up. You’re having a bad dream.” 

Thick beads of sweat rolled down my forehead, landing on the soft bedding above my upper lip. The winter air that managed to flow through a crack in the window was cold, but my body acted as if it were on fire. Every muscle in my body ached with strain. 

Struggling to catch my breath, I clutched the warm blanket against my chest and gasped for air. My sweet boyfriend tenderly tickled my back as I allowed myself to bask in the upcoming calm. 

“Sorry,” I panted. “You’re right. It was a bad dream.” 

“Here. Let me get you something to drink,” Aidrick said. After turning on the light in the bedroom, he ran into the kitchen to grab me a glass of water. 

I opened the blinds to our bedroom window. I breathed easier when I saw the red and white lights of the cars below. 

In the corner of our room sat all of our suitcases, perfectly packed and waiting to be thrown into the trunk. Instead of setting up our old plastic tree, we celebrated a day early by going to our favorite, local Chinese food restaurant. It wasn’t the most festive establishment, but we had a lot on our plate. 

The sounds of the city were always comforting to me. Philadelphia was such a vibrant city with the right amount of diversity of people and sights to visit on a day where boredom takes over. The food was delicious, and we had a darn good rent price, but we had outgrown our welcome.

As he came back from the small kitchen, he handed me a glass of cold water. “Here you go, baby. Drink slowly, okay?” 

Aidrick was the sweetest soul I knew. He would have done anything for me, and I knew it. That’s why I had to take the first step. 

As soon as I got the brochure for the cabin within the “magical town” of Vale Valley, I knew we had to leave. It was the right choice for a new life. 

I took a too big of a sip and exhaled loudly after nearly choking. “I don’t know what’s been going on with me lately,” I said. “I keep dreaming that I’m falling.” 

“Those dreams are awful,” he said, taking the glass back into his hands. “It’ll be okay. They’ll pass. You’re just going through a funk.” 

I lowered the blinds again and managed a smile. “Maybe. I’m a little nervous to move away from the city.” 

Heartbeat slowing down, Aidrick combed his nails through the chocolate highlights of his hair before lowering his lips to my forehead. “It’s okay to be nervous. You grew up down the street from here. It’s a big change” he whispered. 

But that wasn’t why I felt so weird. Every time I thought about Vale Valley, I felt great relief. For the last ten years, we tried to make things work in the city. Sure, we had friends and family. We had people who were there for us. But as we grew older, we wanted more. Maybe that was selfish. Maybe I blamed myself for what had been happening to us. 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked. 

Aidrick sighed and looked into my eyes. The green surrounding his pupils reflected against the light flooding in from the kitchen. “We need a change, Oz,” he said. “All of the surrogates fled, our rent prices are probably going to skyrocket, and I love what we have too much to live a banal life. I don’t think I have any more fight left in me, Ozzie.” 

I nodded, but my heart ached. A baby was supposed to change everything for us. We were clean into our thirties—the drive to procreate was so strong, but the opportunity wasn’t there. We were two alphas that deserved a chance. 

“Maybe Vale Valley will change things for us.” 

He squeezed my shoulders, lovingly. “It’s okay. We tried. I don’t need a baby.” 

But I knew all of his tells—the quick movement of his upper lip alerted me of the lie. Aidrick wanted a child more than me. It was the one wish he had for the holidays, and after the last runaway surrogate, it was clear that wasn’t going to happen. So much planning, shopping, and emotional pull wore us down. All of it added up to nothing. 

“Do you want to hear about my dream?” I asked. 

Though I knew it was far too early to be getting up just yet, he listened. “We were climbing this mountain. I think it was close to our new home, but I can’t be sure. Something inside of my body told me there was someone waiting for us at the top.” 

“A person?” 

I shook my head and tried to make sense of my thoughts. I could feel the presence of someone, but I wasn’t sure what he was and how he got there. After all, it was a dream. 

“I think so,” I said. 

“Well, have you searched on the internet to see if this mountain is real?” he asked. 

I laughed and grabbed my phone. “Not yet. I suppose I should, huh?” 

“Well, duh!” 

Sure enough, there was a mountain that overlooked the whole town. Onyx Mountain.

Apparently, people traveled from all over just to hike to the treacherous summit. 

Judging by the gleam in Aidrick’s eyes, I knew he had some elaborate plan brewing. “No, Aidrick. It says right here—it’s a difficult hike.” 

Aidrick flexed his biceps around my chest and playfully bit my shoulder. “So what? I can do it.” 

I frowned. He was strong, but hiking was not something he was suited for. “There is a fifty meter chute up the mountain,” I said. “Apparently, it’s a seventy degree angle. You really think you can handle it?” 

He sucked in a breath and smiled. “I think we should try it. If it’s a designated trail, we’ll be okay,” he said. “Plus, once we get to the top, we’ll feel unstoppable.” 

I didn’t imagine a long hike right when we got into town, but if Aidrick was truly up for the work, I was all for it. “That would feel really cool,” I said. “I guess we do need something to knock us out of our funk.” 

“You see? That’s why you’ve been having these dreams! We just need to challenge ourselves again,” he said. 

“Wouldn’t it be funny if someone was up there, waiting for us?” I laughed and finally crawled out of bed, yawning. 

“Hey, be careful what you wish for. It’s Christmas—Santa Claus could be waiting with a bag of new toys.” 

“Hm. What kind of toys are we talking about?” 

I could already tell that moving was going to be the start of something different. How unsual that was going to be, I didn’t yet know. 

I rolled on top of him before sucking in a hicky on his neck. “Get over here,” I said. 

I kissed him and said goodbye forever to the apartment and bustling city that shaped our lives.

Vale Valley is a small town open to everyone in need of love and a home,

where were-creatures, witches, ghosts and many others can live in harmony.

Saturday Series Spotlight

Season One-Winter

Part 1  /  Part 2

Season Two-Valentine

Part 1  /  Part 2

Connor Crowe

Connor Crowe grew up reading stories about dragons, magic, and adventure. He often liked to imagine himself as a character in those stories, and as he grew older he began to write some of them down. He couldn't just write any old fantasy, though. As a die-hard romantic, he tells stories of men finding true love amidst adversity.

When you read a Connor Crowe book, you know you're getting action-packed fantasy mpreg that will make your heart race in more ways than one ;)

Lorelei M. Hart

Lorelei M. Hart is the cowriting team of USA Today Bestselling Authors Kate Richards and Ever Coming. Friends for years, the duo decided to come together and write one of their favorite guilty pleasures: Mpreg. There is something that just does it for them about smexy men who love each other enough to start a family together in a world where they can do it the old-fashioned way ;).

Alice Shaw

Alice Shaw grew up in the deserts of Arizona. From an early age, she loved reading about shifters, alphas, and their lovely omegas. As she got older, she fell in love with MM and Mpreg. Now, she can't stop writing stories and building new worlds in the omegaverse.

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Connor Crowe

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Mated Under the Mistletoe by Connor Crowe

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Release Blitz: Rewind by Rowan Shaw

Title: Rewind

Author: Rowan Shaw

Genre: M/M Romance

Release Date: March 18, 2019

Cover Design: Molly Phipps

Summary:
Were Enzo and Florian truly meant to get a second chance or were they doomed from the start?

The day Enzo Chevalier lost his hearing, everything changed. Forced to rebuild his future and fight for his dreams, Enzo refused to let anything take him down...until the man of his life walked out on him and shattered his heart.

Florian Beaudry had his whole life figured out. His business was flourishing and everything was settling down at last. Or so he believed...until he walked in on his girlfriend and best friend.

Still on the rebound and unable to trust another man, Enzo never expected a chance encounter with Florian. The one person he thought he would never see again. The one person he missed the most.

Were they truly meant to get a second chance or were they doomed from the start?

REWIND is an MM romance novel set entirely in France. Though part of a series, it is a standalone story without a cliffhanger.

I stared at Enzo, unsure what to do or how to react. I hadn't seen him in such a long time. When I smiled at him, the deep scar on his left cheek carved into his skin as he replied with a grin of his own, along with a shy wave. I gaped like a moron. He was even more breathtaking than he used to be, taller and stronger too.

My eyes caught on the gorgeous male with his arm around Enzo's shoulders. Something inside me sank. I could either be a coward and ignore Enzo, or I could be the bigger person and ask him to join me for a drink—even if that meant watching him flirt with that hot guy all evening.

Enzo was staring back at me without moving, so I took that as my cue to beckon him forward. The man next to him raised a questioning eyebrow, but Enzo signed at him, explaining I was someone he used to know in high school. The guy crinkled his forehead and glared at me with eyes so green, I couldn't help but stare. Even their hypnotizing tint wouldn't soften the warning in his glower.

Enzo chuckled at the guy's reaction and grabbed his hand, leading him toward me.

I had also forgotten how beautiful he was when he laughed. Even in my fondest memories, he had never looked as good as he did now. The scar on his face only heightened his splendor, especially since I knew what it represented. I tried hard not to gawk, but it felt so good to see him again and get confirmation he was well.

Enzo kept smiling at me shyly, but before he could reach my level, the other guy stood in the way.

"Florian, is that it?" he asked with a hint of hostility.

"Yeah."

I held out my hand to shake his, but he snubbed me, leaning forward instead, blocking Enzo's view. "I don't remember Enzo telling me about any friends in high school. If anything, I only remember him talking about his bullies."

I clenched my teeth at the threat under his tone. "I'm not going to hurt him if that's what you're implying."

Author Bio:
Rowan Shaw is a human being from Planet Earth (originally from the country of France). She's also the queer author of Rewind, an MM romance series set entirely in her home country.

Addicted to reading and writing, Rowan can usually be found with a book in her hands or sitting in front of her computer typing some kind of story while listening to music from the 80s.

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