Welcome to the Model Love world, home of McKay’s Models–an inclusive, international modelling agency where everyone is free to be themselves. From exclusive headshots to couture catwalks, these beautiful models will turn heads wherever they go, and now it’s time for them to find their happily-ever-afters.
This shared world features seven brand new contemporary MM romances, by eight amazing authors, and launches on the 23rd September 2022.
Prescription—a weekend at the cottage and a willing twink to go. What else can Scott, Jericho and Pascal ask for?
Scott Vernier is overburdened with his job as a professor and the logistics of maintaining two residences—his own and the home he shares with Jericho and Pascal. Is it time to consider making the final commitment and moving in?
Jericho suggests a getaway, and the trio borrow a friend’s cottage for the Canada Day summer weekend. Being in a strange setting doesn’t subdue Dr. Griffin’s ability to attend to Scott’s medical needs in the slightest. Then they meet Gerome, a young server at a local restaurant. Gerome seems intrigued by the three older men and agrees to return to the cottage to see where the evening takes them.
Let’s just say they don’t wind up playing board games.
Reader advisory: This story features partner sharing, medical kink and cum play.
Elijah has been forced to leave his home because of his homophobic family. He has arrived in Boston with the hopes of starting a new life. His first stop is a drag club. Intrigued by the art form, he wants to take a peek and look for work.
After leaving the military, Dermott opened Queens to celebrate his love of drag and Irish pubs. Two of his best performers, Rienk and Nico, pack his club and share his bed. Dermott gives the boys needed stability and love, and the three of them have formed an unconventional family.
Dermott is everything Elijah has ever fantasized about, although he does not expect the man to give him anything more than a job. He is already involved with two other beautiful and worldly boys. There is no room for a sheltered virgin like him.
Dermott and his harem were not looking for a new romantic entanglement. When an obviously lost, yet sweet, boy enters the club and their lives, each of them let Elijah know that they would welcome another boy into Dermott’s enormous bed and heart.
Giving his virginity to Dermott would be a dream come true for Elijah, and the other boys are becoming amazing friends. But trusting all three of these men with his heart may be more than Elijah can handle.
AE Lister/Elizabeth Lister is a Canadian non-binary author with a vivid imagination and a head full of unique and interesting characters. They have published 10 books, one of which received an Honorable Mention from the National Leather Association – International for excellence in SM/Leather/Fetish writing.
Samantha Cayto is a Boston-area native who practices as a business lawyer by day while writing erotic romance at night—the steamier the better. She likes to push the envelope when it comes to writing about passion and is delighted other women agree that guy-on-guy sex is the hottest ever.
She lives a typical suburban life with her husband, three kids and four dogs. Her children don't understand why they can't read what she writes, but her husband is always willing to lend her a hand—and anything else—when she needs to choreograph a scene.
Giveaway
Enter for the chance to win a $50.00 First for Romance Gift Card! Competition hosted by Totally Entwined Group.
Author Gail Z. Martin aka Morgan Brice and Gay Book Promotions share series tour for Trifles and Folly: A Deadly Curiosities Supernatural Mystery Adventure Collection (Books 1-3)! Don't miss the excerpt from the latest release, Trifles and Folly #3! Plus, the author is hosting a back list eBook giveaway! Good luck!
NEW RELEASE AND SERIES TOUR
BOOK 1
Book Title: Trifles and Folly: A Deadly Curiosities Supernatural Mystery Adventure Collection
Author: Gail Z. Martin
Publisher: SOL Publishing
Cover Artist: Lou Harper
Length: 396 pages
Release Date: October 18, 2016
Genres: Urban fantasy with a prominent gay secondary character in an evolving, committed and plot-important relationship
Tropes: Evolving established relationship/commitment
Themes: Found family, learning to use magic, sharing secret abilities,
Heat Rating: 4 flames
These are collections of short stories and novellas that originally appeared either individually or reverted from anthologies, so while they function like ‘extra episodes’ for the novels, they were intended to stand alone.
The short stories were designed to be standalone and not require prior knowledge of the series.
Trifles and Folly is a fascinatingly frightful set of dark urban fantasy tales full of abandoned mansions, restless spirits, Hoodoo, magic, supernatural creatures and long-overdue revenge.
Blurb
Haunted places. Cursed heirlooms. Vengeful ghosts. Dark Magic
Cassidy Kincaide owns Trifles and Folly, an antique shop with a secret history. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them. She and her allies use magic and paranormal abilities to keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats. Journey...if you dare...through these satisfyingly spooky short stories and novellas that take place around and between the novels in the Deadly Curiosities series.
A collection of nine stand-alone adventures: Buttons, The Restless Dead, Retribution, Coffin Box, Wicked Dreams, Collector, Bad Memories, Shadow Garden, and Spook House.
Trifles and Folly is a fascinatingly frightful set of dark urban fantasy tales full of abandoned mansions, restless spirits, Hoodoo, magic, supernatural creatures and long-overdue revenge.
A companion to the Deadly Curiosities series. Can be read as a standalone.
Revised Edition 2, 2018. Includes an updated cover, minor edits and the BONUS section with three stories chronicling Sorren’s early days: Vanities, The Wild Hunt, and Dark Legacy.
“A fabulous job of creating a world that was steeped with curses, lore, lure, deadly consequences, and magic.” — The Book Junkie on Trifles & Folly
BOOK 2
Book Title: Trifles and Folly 2: A Deadly Curiosities Supernatural Mystery Adventure Collection
Author: Gail Z. Martin
Publisher: SOL Publishing
Cover Artist: Lou Harper
Length: 568 pages
Release Date: December 27, 2017
Genres: Urban fantasy with a prominent gay secondary character in an evolving, committed and plot-important relationship
Tropes: Evolving established relationship/commitment
Themes: Found family, learning to use magic, sharing secret abilities,
Heat Rating: 4 flames
These are collections of short stories and novellas that originally appeared either individually or reverted from anthologies, so while they function like ‘extra episodes’ for the novels, they were intended to stand alone.
Trifles and Folly 2 is a satisfyingly spooky set of dark urban fantasy tales full of Southern cemeteries, restless spirits, Voodoo, magic, supernatural creatures, pirate ghosts, vampires and vengeance.
Blurb
Curses, vengeance from beyond the grave, haunted curios, werewolves, and wicked faeries.
Walk on the wild side, deep in the shadows through these delightfully creepy short stories and novellas that take place around and between the novels in the Deadly Curiosities series. Cassidy Kincaide owns Trifles and Folly, an antique shop with a secret history. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them. She and her allies use magic and paranormal abilities to keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats
An extension of the Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy novel series, this collection can be read as a standalone. It contains three full novellas and four short stories: The Final Death, Predator, Fair Game, Fatal Invitation, Redcap, Bloodlines, plus three bonus stories: Among the Shoals Forever, The Low Road, and Steer a Pale Course.
Trifles and Folly 2 is a satisfyingly spooky set of dark urban fantasy tales full of Southern cemeteries, restless spirits, Voodoo, magic, supernatural creatures, pirate ghosts, vampires and vengeance.
“This book is honestly as good as the first. I love it when a series starts out great and stays that way.“—T’s Stuff on Trifles and Folly 2
BOOK 3 – NEW RELEASE
Book Title: Trifles and Folly 3: A Deadly Curiosities Supernatural Mystery Adventure
Author: Gail Z. Martin/Morgan Brice
Publisher: SOL Publishing
Length: 320 pages
Release Date: March 29, 2022
Genres. Urban fantasy with a prominent gay secondary character in an evolving, committed and plot-important relationship
Tropes: Evolving established relationship/commitment
Themes: Found family, learning to use magic, sharing secret abilities,
Heat Rating: 4 flames
These are collections of short stories and novellas that originally appeared either individually or reverted from anthologies, so while they function like ‘extra episodes’ for the novels, they were intended to stand alone.
Trifles and Folly 3 is a wickedly wonderful set of dark urban fantasy tales full of cursed curios, stolen relics, haunted heirlooms, creepy castles, menacing monsters, magic, and mayhem.
Blurb
The ghost of a jilted lover, an accidental hell-mouth, a soul-eating monster, cursed needlework, and a rogue’s gallery of sullied spirits—all this and more awaits!
Wander the shadowed paths through this spooktacular collection of short stories and novellas that take place around and between the novels in the Deadly Curiosities series.
An extension of the Deadly Curiosities urban fantasy novel series, this collection can be read as a standalone. It contains two novellas and five short stories: The Adventure of the Melted Saint, Keepsakes, Catspaw, The Piper’s Song, Innocence Lost, Crewel Fate, and Heap of Trouble.
Cassidy Kincaide owns Trifles and Folly, an antique shop with a secret history. Cassidy can read the history of objects by touching them. She and her allies use magic and paranormal abilities to keep Charleston and the world safe from supernatural threats.
Trifles and Folly 3 is a wickedly wonderful set of dark urban fantasy tales full of cursed curios, stolen relics, haunted heirlooms, creepy castles, menacing monsters, magic, and mayhem.
This collection includes a Morgan Brice MM Paranormal Romance novella set in the Deadly Curiosities’ universe with scenes only appropriate for readers 18+.
Excerpt from book 3
“Come back inside, Cassidy,” he urged. “I don’t know why, but I don’t like the vibes I’m getting out here tonight.”
Teag’s intuition is fueled by strong magic, so I take his “vibes” seriously. I’m pretty good with both intuition and magic myself, and I felt a shiver go down my back. “There’s something out here,” I murmured, looking down the alley toward the streetlight at the end and seeing a dark shape in the roadway I had not noticed before.
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Teag said. “Come back where it’s safe.”
Wardings protected the old antique shop against dark magic. Salt and iron lay beneath the sill of every door and window to repel evil, and as an added protection, sometimes we had a nearly six-hundred-year-old vampire staying in the secret room in the shop basement. Teag and I both wore protective amulets, and when it came to defending ourselves, we were no slouches. So when I lingered a moment longer, I took a calculated risk.
“We need to see what that is,” I said, jerking my head toward the lump that lay near the far end of the alley. I let my athame slide down beneath my sleeve into my hand and jangled the old dog collar on my left wrist, smiling as the ghost of a large dog appeared at my side. Teag muttered something under his breath and joined me a moment later, carrying a wooden martial arts staff and a wicked knife.
Together, we advanced on the shape, which lay still in the dim glow of the distant street light. A mangy cat paced near the body, staying just out of reach as we approached, even though Bo’s ghost growled and stepped toward it. If the cat could see Bo, the ghost dog didn’t intimidate him. I paid attention to what my senses were telling me, shivering at the resonance something evil left in its wake. Yet the closer we got to the thing in the road, the more certain I became that the threat itself had come and gone.
About the Author
Gail Z. Martin writes epic fantasy, urban fantasy and steampunk for Solaris Books, Orbit Books, SOL Publishing, Darkwind Press, Worldbuilders Press and Falstaff Books. Recent books include Convicts and Exiles, Sellsword’s Oath, Inheritance, and Night Moves. With Larry N. Martin, she is the co-author of the Spells Salt & Steel, Wasteland Marshals, Joe Mack and Jake Desmet series.
As Morgan Brice, she writes urban fantasy MM paranormal romance including the Witchbane, Badlands, Treasure Trail and Fox Hollow series.
In this 150,000-word complete collection, Zach and Henry bare it all. You’ll get wild Los Angeles nights, the overwhelming emotional roller coaster of discovering yourself, plans gone awry, adventures, laugh-out-loud moments, and sizzling romance.
I had two things on my list when I arrived in Los Angeles. One, track down Henry Bennington, the uncle and guardian of my little brother’s best friend Tyler, and tell him to get his ass back to Washington—because his nephew was getting out of control. And two, figure out just how non-straight I was.
Nowhere on this list did it say, “Get Tyler’s uncle into bed and fall for him.”
Nowhere.
This is the complete collection of every story revolving around Zach and Henry. All 150,000 words of them, starting with the first novel, Out, continuing with the holiday sequel, Out for the Holidays, and followed by a novella previously only available to Cara’s newsletter subscribers, Out Cruising, as well as brand new content titled Out and About.
Averaged
Reviewer: Annery
Out - 4.5 Hearts
Zach grew up fast, became a parent to his brother and a caretaker to his mother. At 25 he got an inkling that perhaps he wasn’t as straight as he thought. Two years later, he came from his small town of Camassia, WA. to Los Angeles to confirm his suspicions, and to do something about it. Fortuitously he meets Henry Bennington, almost 20 years his senior, everything Zach is not and his life comes into clear focus. Zach just needs to convince Henry of the rightness of them as a couple and that Zach isn’t just sampling at the gay buffet.
This story is a breath of fresh air & sunshine. Yes, there’s age-gap, coming out, some familial strife, and yet the prevailing sentiment while reading it and once you’re done is a smile. The author astutely keeps the villains, such as they are, off stage and the bad things have already happened. The story is centered on Zach & Henry’s relationship & told from Zach’s P.O.V. which is genius as Zach is great company. He’s open and honest, particularly about himself, what turns him on or what he wants, and he’s funny too.
Things move fast. Pretty much from the moment Zach lays eyes on Henry his suspicions of gayhood are confirmed completely, skipping bi as a possibility. I liked it, no half measures for our Zach. Henry takes some convincing, even after he succumbs to Zach’s charms. He doesn’t see them as a lasting thing, lacking confidence in himself, he can’t fathom that Zach, his junior and a complete virgin to gay life, will want him, a guy who albeit handsome, educated, and of economic means, has shut himself in an obscure bookstore and a hamsterwheel life. Luckily, Zach is charming and persistent.
Fear not. Henry’s doubts about a lasting relationship don’t translate to the bedroom, their sexual chemistry is akin to Habanero Orange or Red on the Scoville scale. However for me the bigger draw was their quotidian interactions, how friends & family are at the heart of this story. I really enjoyed this slice of goodness and it lightened up the winter doldrums.
Recommend :D
Out for the Holidays - 4 Hearts
Henry and Zach are back. It’s their second Christmas together and plans go a bit haywire but not in any kind of tragic or drastic way. We just get to visit with a beloved couple, see how their imperfect, bumps, warts and all, fairytale plays out. As a plus when these two get together fun and smoldering sex are on the agenda. Sweet.
Zach has a successful modeling career but an unexpected work trip is threatening to derail his Christmas plans which entail nothing but being a homebody pampered by Henry. Fortunately the guys are resourceful, they turn lemons into lemonade, and get a chance to deal resolutely with a persistent pest. If that means smoking hot sex with Zach in the driver’s seat and certain people seeing them, what can you do?
I will note that though done organically, the story is populated by characters from other books in the author’s catalog, but they don’t in any way hinder or take over the story. They’re just part of the world Henry & Zach inhabit. I do think the reading experience would be richer if you know these stories too, and I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve read.
Out Cruising - 3.5 Hearts
The guys, Zach in particular, need a distraction. A gay cruise with seven of their closest friends is just what the doctor ordered. Zach continues to have firsts as an out gay boy, and a fun time is had by all. You too, reader!
This short really just pushes Henry & Zach’s story, where they are in terms of friends & family, and defining what the borders of what life will look like. Fret not, certainly there are some creative sexy times, but the heart of the story really has to do with the couple’s desire to become parents and making that wish a reality.
Two things kept this under a four:
1) knowing the stories of the three other couples that feature, somewhat prominently, is highly recommended. If you’ve enjoyed reading this series, these others wouldn’t be a hardship.
2) in the bedroom Zachary & Henry have had since the beginning this Daddy/boy dynamic. To my eyes it was just a playful, erotic thing they did for play, but now it seems to be more front & center and the prevalence of it didn’t seem organic, more like everyone has a kink which … not necessarily true? Sometimes vanilla is just fantastic without any sprinkles. Obviously just my 2 cents and YMMV.
Out and About Briefly - 3 Hearts
This is an epilogue included in this collection of the OUT stories. It takes place eighteen months after “Out Cruising” and we’re on another cruise in December but this one is absolutely PG. Zach & Henry are fully immersed in parenthood and loving it. When they get home we get a Christmas & family love bomb. Enjoy xoxo
FINAL NOTES:
a) these should definitely be read in order
b) if you already own the first three books I’m not sure that buying the box set for the final story is absolutely necessary, though I understand completists' impulses. It’s probably 15 pages of Henry & Zach being happy.
I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Out: The Complete Collection is out from author Cara Dee! Check it out!
Out: The Complete Collection by Cara Dee
Series: Out
Genre: MM Romantic Comedy
Tags: #AgeDifference #MMromance #MMromcom #OutCompleteCollection #comingoutstory
Comedy Romance | Coming Out Story | Age Difference In this 150 000-word complete collection, Zach and Henry bare it all. You’ll get wild Los Angeles nights, the overwhelming emotional roller coaster of discovering yourself, plans gone awry, adventures, laugh-out-loud moments, and sizzling romance.
I had two things on my list when I arrived in Los Angeles. One, track down Henry Bennington, the uncle and guardian of my little brother’s best friend Tyler, and tell him to get his ass back to Washington—because his nephew was getting out of control. And two, figure out just how non-straight I was.
Nowhere on this list did it say, “Get Tyler’s uncle into bed and fall for him.”
Nowhere.
This is the complete collection of every story revolving around Zach and Henry. All 150 000 words of them, starting with the first novel, Out, continuing with the holiday sequel, Out for the Holidays, and followed by a novella previously only available to Cara’s newsletter subscribers, Out Cruising, as well as brand new content titled Out and About.
About Cara
I’m often awkwardly silent or, if the topic interests me, a chronic rambler. In other words, I can discuss writing forever and ever. Fiction, in particular. The love story—while a huge draw and constantly present—is secondary for me, because there’s so much more to writing romance fiction than just making two (or more) people fall in love and have hot sex.
There’s a world to build, characters to develop, interests to create, and a topic or two to research thoroughly.
Every book is a challenge for me, an opportunity to learn something new, and a puzzle to piece together. I want my characters to come to life, and the only way I know to do that is to give them substance—passions, history, goals, quirks, and strong opinions—and to let them evolve.
I want my men and women to be relatable. That means allowing room for everyday problems and, for lack of a better word, flaws. My characters will never be perfect.
Wait…this was supposed to be about me, not my writing.
I'm a writey person who loves to write. Always wanderlusting, twitterpating, kinking, cooking, baking, and geeking. There’s time for hockey and family, too. But mostly, I just love to write.
Author J. Scott Coatsworth and Other Worlds Ink share new cover for sci-fi collection, Tangents & Tachyons! And they're also hosting a giveaway! Check it out!
J. Scott Coatsworth has a new queer sci fi collection out: Tangents & Tachyons. And there's a giveaway!
Tangents & Tachyons is Scott's second anthology - six sci fi and sci-fantasy shorts that run the gamut from time travel to hopepunk and retro spec fic:
Eventide: Tanner Black awakes to find himself in his own study, staring out the window at the end of the Universe. But who brought him there, and why?
Chinatown: Deryn lives in an old San Francisco department store with his girlfriend Gracie, and scrapes by with his talent as a dreamcaster for the Chinese overlords. But what if a dream could change the world?
Across the Transom: What if someone or something took over your body on an urgent mission to save your world?
Pareidolia: Simon's not like other college kids. His mind can rearrange random patterns to reveal the images lurking inside. But where did his strange gift come from? And what if there are others like him out there too?
Lamplighter: Fen has a crush on his friend Lewin, who's in a competing guild. But when the world goes dark, only a little illumination can save it. And only Fen, Lewin and their friend Alissa can light the spark. A Liminal Sky short.
Prolepsis: Sean is the closeted twenty-five-year-old editor of an 80's sci-fi 'zine called Prolepsis. When an unabashedly queer story arrives from a mysterious writer, it blows open Sean's closet door, and offers him the chance to change the world - and the future.
Plus two flash fiction stories – The System and The Frog Prince, never before published.
This is the first time all of these stories have all been collected in one place.
Simon slammed the lid on his sugar-free, two-pump, pulse-heated vanilla latte, before he might accidentally get a good look at the pattern on the coffee’s surface.
Ethan, the barista, usually covered it for him, but he’d forgotten this time. Simon, distracted by the coffee shop’s textured wall, had almost missed it.
He’d jerked his gaze away when the whorls and lines in the plaster had shifted into a mountain landscape. He looked around as casually as he could manage, hoping no one had noticed the wall moving.
Simon put his prescription glasses back on. They blurred his vision just enough to block his curse from shifting any other patterns. If anyone ever found out what he could do, they'd stick him in a cage like a lab rat.
Fooling the optometrist had been easy enough—he’d just pretended that the clear letters were fuzzy and vice versa. Unfortunately, they made the handsome barista fuzzy too.
Simon sighed under his breath. An imperfect solution to an unwanted gift. He waved. "Have a good one."
"You too." Ethan winked at him.
Simon hurried out of the Student Union, keeping his eyes pointed forward, avoiding the patterns that flocked to him like birds to seed—clouds in the sky, the grains of wood on a table… even the swirls on Tracey Martin’s designer bag in class. He emerged into the fresh morning air, ducking as a drone zipped past overhead carrying a pizza to someone's dorm.
He’d learned to control his curse in elementary school. Mostly. The glasses helped, and if he blurred his vision when the patterns started to become actual things, they stopped. Usually. Still, he’d gone to detention more than once for, "whatever you just did to your desk."
There was a name for seeing things in random patterns—pareidolia. But most people didn't seem to do it so literally.
"Ally, what’s the time?"
His PA responded in his ear in her usual chipper Italian accent. -It’s eleven-fifty-seven, Simon. You have a class in three minutes.-
"Crap." He ran down the steps, knocking the wallet out of a woman’s hands. He grabbed it and tossed it to her. "Sorry!"
Then he bolted down the sidewalk, dodging a group of students flicking data over their wrists, and leapt like a track star over a short hedge to shave off fifteen seconds.
One of the Sac State professors shouted after him, "Slow down!"
"Sorry! Late for a lecture!" He hated being late—it drew attention to himself, and he liked to blend in. Plus, it's a damned good course.
Professor Dandrich’s course—Finding Meaning in Interstellar Noise—was one of his favorites. If he could just find a job like that where he could use his strange ability…
Simon slipped into the hall and slammed into his seat in the front row of the lecture hall at a minute past noon, splashing his latte all over his arm. "Dammit."
Everyone turned to look at him, and heat rushed to his face. So much for blending in.
Author Bio
Scott lives with his husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her library, but as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were.
He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.
A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and is a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Far from Home is out from NineStar Press! Celebrate with author Vincent Traughber Meis and IndiGo Marketing! Read more about the short story collection and enter in the giveaway!
Title: Far from Home
Author: Vincent Traughber Meis
Publisher:NineStar Press
Release Date: 10/11/2021
Heat Level: 2 - Fade to Black Sex
Pairing: No Romance, Male/Male, Female/Female
Length: 62800
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Age-gap, Athlete, Gender-bending, Illness/disease, In the closet, Interracial, Intercultural, Medical personnel, Political, Psychic ability, Pandemic, Teaching, Travel, UST
Far from Home is a collection of twelve short stories, taking the reader on a journey from the desert sands of the Middle East to a forbidden Caribbean island, and many points in between.
Though two of the stories are set in the U.S., others find gay people dealing with gayness in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Spain, Turkey, Cuba, Mexico, and the Netherlands, places where the characters are physically and psychologically far from the comfort of home. Most of the stories focus on Gay men suffering alienation, confusion, violence, and loss in the eternal search for love while they travel or live in other cultures.
The overall focus is on LGBTQ people as they venture out into the world.
It’s a coffee-colored afternoon: thick, murky, unsweetened, bitter, poured in a long stream from a dallah, hot but cooling rapidly. The air is the color of cardamom seeds, their skin, their eyes. This time of day the same dull brown coats the inside of his head after a rising time of 4:30 a.m., fumbling in darkness to strangle the alarm. He sees the days, weeks, months stretched out in front of him, a path paved in riyals, leading him through the wan desert and, he hopes, toward an oasis. Or is it only a mirage? How much longer does he have to be in the Kingdom? He glances at his watch, calculating the amount of money he has made in the last hour, a pittance compared to the CEO of the international company he works for, though for him and his pre-Saudi life, a fortune.
A thunderstorm that morning flashed out of the murky sky, pummeling this flat wide expanse of beach with a long rain. Rainstorms in the desert are a new phenomenon for him. For days a ceiling has pressed down lower and lower, alternately dropping and holding back its holy water, instantly sullied by its touching of the land. A chain of dirty puddles formed upon a resistant ground, hurrying to stagnation, calling mosquitoes to come perform their pagan rituals of breeding. Garbage, carried by the wind, strewn across the sand, has summoned flies and maggot producers of all types. He steps gingerly toward the sea, avoiding broken bottles and rusting cans, happily less vulnerable in his sneakers than the Saudis in their sandals.
His eyes squint against the gritty air, and pluck from this soiled landscape a man of fine features, an apparition, his white shalwar kameez fluttering in the breeze, bushy dark hair uncovered, not Saudi, Urdu speaker most likely by his attire. But he is real. His beckoning smile cleans the air and calms the American’s rancor, transforming it to the far more dangerous trap of desire. What had he been angry about? He doesn’t remember. No doubt a minor annoyance due to an inexplicable part of his host country’s culture.
“Hello,” the man says, tugging lightly on his thick mustache. “Where you from?”
“American, and you?”
“Pakistani. I am Adil.”
They shake hands. “I’m Mark.”
Adil releases his hand and touches his heart. “Nice to meet you,” he says in a beguiling accent. The sun attempts to burn its way through the cloud cover, but the Pakistani’s black eyes are already shining, providing light. “What you do?”
“Just walking.”
“Me, too. Watch out.” He points out a piece of glass. He’s wearing dressy black boots. “My day off I come here to visit friends.”
“From where?”
“Jubail. I work there. And you?”
“I’m at the Navy base. I teach English.”
“Oh, maybe you help me with my English.” Eyebrows rise high above his smile, white teeth, suggesting an exchange of some sort. “We go have coffee?”
Adil glances toward the family section. “Are you married?”
It is always one of the first questions. Trick question. Mark wonders what the correct answer is. He can say he was, but he’s divorced now. Or never married. He decides on a simple no. “And you?”
“Not yet. I work here to finish my contract, then I go back and get married.” He shows his pearly white teeth again. He’s old enough to have crow’s feet, a few strands of gray in his hair. He wears the kameez open halfway down, his hairy chest peeking above his tank top.
A man in Western clothes, Mediterranean looks, passes by, looks up, and shouts an angry threat. The pigeon takes flight as do several others who have been cooing on the rafters. The man goes to the counter and asks for a napkin, brushes his shoulder. Adil laughs. “Maybe is good luck for him,” Adil says. “Let’s go for a drive. Prayer call is coming.”
“You have a car?”
“Yes. You surprised?”
“No. That’s cool.” Mark, despite being much higher in the hierarchy of foreign workers, relies on public transportation. As they exit, Adil puts his hand lightly on Mark’s lower back, entreating him to go first out of the cool into heat. The sun has made a brief appearance but is dropping behind the layer of haze, perpetually lounging on the horizon. They walk side by side. High in the minaret a speaker crackles and a voice begins. It is the Asr prayer call.
“You don’t go to the mosque?”
Adil turns to Mark with a smirk. “Not today.”
“Why not today?”
“Because I meet a new friend.”
Movement surrounds them as shops close. Screeching metal doors slide down tight tracks cutting through the damp air, sounding like screams until they are drowned by the sudden shot-like explosion of the fully extended doors striking the pavement. From across the street comes the clang of gates brought together and the eerie rattle of a chain joining them in a clumsy embrace. The sounds echo up and down the block as a car speeds by on the corniche, honking at each intersection sending shadowy figures scurrying, gripping more tightly the plastic shopping bags dangling from their wrists. Men duck into cars and alleys as the scarves on their heads flap with the sudden haste.
“Come on,” says Adil as he picks up the pace, and a short time later stops at a car. “Ta da!” It is not pretty. The white Nissan is several years old and suffering from the sea air. “This is my baby. Don’t laugh.”
They get on the road out into the desert. Mark has no idea where they’re going or if he’ll ever make it back, something he tries not to think about as he sits in the death seat with a mad Pakistani at the wheel. Adil reaches over and opens the glove compartment. “Look in there. Poems I wrote. Go ahead. Look.”
Vincent Traughber Meis started writing plays as a child in the Midwest and cajoled his sisters to act in performing them for neighbors. In high school, one of his short stories won a local contest sponsored by the newspaper. After graduating from college, he worked on a number of short stories and began his first novel. In the 1980’s and 90’s he published a number of pieces, mostly travel articles in publications such as, The Advocate, LA Weekly, In Style, and Our World. His travels have inspired his five novels, all set at least partially in foreign countries: Eddie’s Desert Rose (2011), Tio Jorge (2012), and Down in Cuba (2013), Deluge (2016) and Four Calling Burds (2019). Tio Jorge received a Rainbow Award in the category of Bisexual Fiction in 2012. Down in Cuba received two Rainbow Awards in 2013. Recently stories have been published in three collections: WITH:New Gay Fiction, Best Gay Erotica Vol 1 and Best Gay Erotica Vol 4. He lives in San Leandro, CA with his husband.
Join authors Megan Slayer and Elizabeth Hollows as they celebrate their MM contribution to Pride Publishing's Love's Bloom Collection: Love Next Door and Garden of Cupid! Find out more about the neighbor romances and enter in the giveaway to win a LOVELY GIFT PACKAGE AND GET A FIRST FOR ROMANCE GIFT CARD!
Love's Bloom Collection
Spring is a time of renewal, of new life and new love. Maybe it’s a spring fling, or a second chance at love! This is a collection of Spring-themed stories, where new relationships grow and love blooms.
General Release Date: 6th April 2021
Garden of Cupid by Elizabeth Hollows
Will doesn’t want a relationship. Blain isn’t looking for a boyfriend. But with an old lady playing Cupid, how can they ignore a chance at love?
Will Brewer is a shy artist living with only his cat for company. He’s not good with people and even worse with relationships. He isn’t looking for a boyfriend. He just wants to paint. In fact, he would happily be living the life of a hermit if his eighty-year-old neighbor, Mrs. O’Grady, wasn’t constantly roping him into tasks around her house.
And he isn’t the only one she’s preying on.
The new and gorgeous mechanic Blain Stewart has just moved in next door. Where Will feels like an awkward fool around Blain, the mechanic finds him adorable.
Blain has just ended a bad long-term relationship with a high-maintenance man who didn’t understand him. He feels like he’s starting all over again and he’s hesitant for his fresh start to include the talented and charming Will.
But when Mrs. O’Grady asks them to plant some flowers in her garden, the tension between them skyrockets.
They both think friendship would be safer than a new romance. But when attraction, connection and an enthusiastic old lady are pushing them together, can they resist?
Can three tiny kittens really bring these two men together and prove love can bloom despite the chilly spring days?
Tommy Davis considered himself a loner. He spent his days writing and running, all while keeping everyone else at bay. That is, until he discovers three kittens abandoned in his shrubbery. His fatherly instincts kick in, and he goes to the one person he knows can help—his sexy-as-sin next-door neighbor who happens to be a veterinarian.
Matthew James wasn’t looking for love, but the moment Tommy shows up on his doorstep, he can’t send him away. He’s had a thing for Tommy since the first time he saw him, but his shyness has kept him from making a move.
The melting snow, blossoming flowers and a trio of kittens could be more than the guys can handle, but they just might be the push Matthew needs to find his forever with Tommy.
Reader advisory: This book contains references of past sexual assault and mentions of an abusive ex.
Elizabeth Hollows is an Australian writer of LGBT love stories specializing in homosexual or lesbian romance.
Her preferred genres are fantasy, science fiction and contemporary/modern.
She has been writing since she was twelve, but has spent the last few years writing romance stories and discovering a passion for LGBT romance.
When Elizabeth is not writing she embroiders, reads and plots her next novel. She is a fan of the winter months and always has a book in her handbag and a cup of tea nearby.
When she’s not writing, Megan spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice.
THE LOVE'S BLOOM AUTHORS ARE GIVING AWAY THIS FABULOUS PRIZE TO ONE LUCKY WINNER. ENTER HERE FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A LOVELY GIFT PACKAGE AND GET A FIRST FOR ROMANCE GIFT CARD! Notice: This competition ends on 20TH April 2021 at 5pm GMT. Competition hosted by Totally Entwined Group.
