Silvia Violet- Needing A little Christmas

Blurb:

Discovering his boyfriend's affair with a co-worker wrecks Eli's holiday plans. With his parents on a cruise and his brother and sister out of town, he's on his own. His mother insists he escape to her friend's mountain cabin. Eli reluctantly agrees, but he takes off unprepared and ends up driving into the worst snowstorm the area has seen in years.

He survives the trip, but he's stuck with no logs for the woodstove and little food. Fortunately, he gets the number for Mac's Wood Delivery. Mac doesn't mind riding to the rescue, and his deep, sultry voice has Eli eagerly anticipating the delivery. Is Mac the little bit of Christmas cheer Eli has been needing?

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Excerpt: 

"What do you mean you're not going to be with Dave's family for Christmas? Why?"

I pulled the phone away from my ear. I’d known my mother would be upset, but her reaction was even more vehement and loud than I expected. “Apparently one of the junior partners at his firm isn’t nearly as boring as I am. They’ve been having an affair for months.”

My mother made a sound of disgust. “Oh, honey, I'm so sorry, and you are not boring.”

“Sure, I know, but Dave thinks I am.” And honestly, I thought he was probably right. I preferred to stay at home rather than go out. I spent most days in sweats and T-shirts. When Dave did drag me to a party with his socialite friends, I inevitably embarrassed him with my lack of knowledge of current affairs. I’d taken to hiding out in the bathroom writing notes for my next book on my phone. He’d even attempted to coach me in the art of party conversation. I’d used his lessons in a book but ignored them as they applied to me. The book had done well; readers found the lessons hilarious.

When Dave suggested I was not only an uninteresting social companion but boring in bed as well, I’d taken that seriously. I might prefer a quiet lifestyle, but I knew how to please a partner sexually. After pondering what I could do to shock him, I’d gotten my nipples pierced, something I’d secretly wanted to do for years. He’d laughed. I should have broken up with him that night. We’d only had sex a few times after that, and each time, Dave raced to completion, showered off the scent of me, and promptly fell asleep.

I heard my mother’s heels click against the floor. She must be pacing, something she always did when strategizing. “I’m so sorry, honey. Do you want us to cancel our cruise?”

That was the last thing I wanted. “Of course not. You’ve been looking forward to it for months. I’m fine. Really.”

“Are you sure?”

I held the phone between my shoulder and ear as I poured myself a generous measure of whiskey. “Yeah, things hadn’t been great between me and Dave for a long time.”

She huffed. “That doesn’t give him any excuse to—"

I held up my hand even though she couldn’t see me. “No it doesn’t. He acted like an ass, and I think he knows it. He moved out of his beloved apartment and told me I could keep it.” Not that I could afford it for long unless my next book was a runaway hit.

Mom sighed. “I don’t want you spending Christmas alone.”

After draining my drink, I’d wandered into my bedroom and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My eyes were red from lack of sleep and they looked more hazel than their usual bright green. My curly dark hair stood out at odd angles. The stress of trying to meet the deadline for my book and trying to hold on to a relationship that had died well before I caught Dave fucking his colleague in his office hadn’t been good for my appetite. I’d lost weight and the bones in my face showed prominently. I was definitely not looking my best, but I wanted a few more days to wallow in self-pity. “I really don’t want to be around anyone right now.”

My mom sighed. “But it’s Christmas.”

I ran my hand through my hair, making it stick out even more. “I’m not in the mood for holiday cheer.”

“Your dad and I can go on a cruise another year.”

“No, arranging this once was difficult enough. Rick and Cindy will want to spend next year with you since they’re with Cindy’s family this year. And Ally’s trip to California is a special one-time deal. This is our gift to you, and I won’t be responsible for screwing it up.”

“You wouldn’t be responsible; Dave would be.”

“I wasn’t exactly looking forward to listening to his family brag about how wonderful they all are. I’ll have a better time alone.” My mom’s pacing stopped, and I realized I’d said the wrong thing.

“Eli, why didn’t you tell us you didn’t want to go home with Dave? We would never have agreed to the cruise if we thought you’d be miserable at Christmas.”

I tried to back pedal. “It would have been fine. I enjoy visiting Boston even if the company leaves something to be desired.”

“Hmm.” My mom didn’t sound convinced. “Maybe we could get you a ticket for the cruise. It might not be full.”

The cruise was supposed to give my parents some uninterrupted time together. And the last thing I wanted was be trapped on a ship with lots of happy, smiling people encouraging me to socialize while my mom fussed over me. “No, thanks. I really, truly would rather be on my own.”

“But what will you do?”

“Stay home and drown my sorrows in Christmas cookies and eggnog.”

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Surrender to your Darkest Needs

Andrew Grey - Snowbound in Nowhere

BLURB:

When a funeral calls his friend Martin away, sunbelt resident Chris is left alone in Martin’s cabin in the dead of winter—and in a blizzard to boot.  When the power goes out, Chris thinks he’s going to freeze to death.  Luckily, Horace drops in to check on him—and then runs out after a few kisses, leaving Chris upset and feeling used. Horace does come back with explanations, but is their time together keeping each other warm enough for them see they belong together? Or are these sudden emotions the product of being snowbound?

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EXCERPT:

CHAPTER ONE

“You said to come and spend Christmas with you so I wouldn’t be alone,” Chris whined into his phone after he’d set down his bags and closed the front door of the small lake house in the woods. “So I left Phoenix to come to northern Wisconsin in December.” Chris shivered at the thought, even though the house was warm enough. He was beginning to believe he’d truly gone crazy and that they were going to find him frozen solid come spring.

“How was I supposed to know that one of the few relatives I had left was going to die?” Martin said, and Chris immediately felt guilty. It really wasn’t something Martin could have helped, but the entire purpose of this visit had been so Chris wouldn’t have to spend the holidays alone. “The funeral is tomorrow, and afterwards, I need to meet with the executors of the will. I should be home in a few days, and then we can spend the rest of the next two weeks together. I promise it’ll be fine.” Martin sounded a bit frazzled, and Chris let his own angst and anger go. “I left plenty of food in the house, and you should have everything you need for a few days. I also marked one of the trees on the property for us to use as a Christmas tree. You can cut it if you want, and there’s a stand in the basement.”

“I don’t think so. There’s snow on the ground,” Chris said. Martin had been surprised when Chris had told him he’d never actually been in snow and appalled when Chris had told him recently that he would be spending the holidays alone. Apparently, even though Martin had very little family, and even less now, he had a group of friends who always spent the holidays together. So Martin had talked Chris into visiting for the holidays. More like cajoled and bugged until Chris had agreed just to shut him up.

“It’s not going to hurt you, but we can do that when I get back if you want. I have you in the first bedroom in the right as you go down the hall. You’ll find the bathroom, I’m sure. I set out warm clothes for you on the bed, and if you need anything, check out my closet. Like I said, I should be back in a few days.” Martin paused, and Chris heard voices talking softly behind him. “I have to go, but you know I love you and can’t wait to see you. I’ll get there once this is over.”

“Okay.” Chris held back a sigh. “I’ll see you then.” He hung up and shoved the phone into his pocket before looking around the small house. It had obviously been built as a summer cabin. Chris knew Martin had done a lot of work on the place so he could live here year-round, and it did seem rather cozy. It had a lake house feel, with big overstuffed furniture that looked amazingly comfortable, pictures on the walls of boats and people fishing, rugs spread over pine floors. There were huge windows that overlooked the tree-lined lake, which had what looked like mini-icebergs floating on it.

Chris sighed softly and let some of the tension that had built during his drive slip away. He had flown into Wausau and then driven almost two hours to get to Martin’s. The sides of the roads had been piled with snow. He was thankful it hadn’t been snowing during his drive because he wouldn’t have known what to do. Instead, the sun had shone and he’d had to stop at a wide spot to dig out his sunglasses because of the way the sun had reflected off the whiteness that hung everywhere. The sun had lasted until he’d approached the lake, and then gray clouds had obscured the sky. Chris had had to take off his sunglasses in order to see. As he stood looking out the windows, the first flakes of snow began to fall. Figuring he should experience everything he could while he was here, Chris found the bedroom Martin had indicated and spied a coat, gloves, and hat on the bed and a pair of boots by the closet. He wasn’t planning to traipse through the snow, so he left the boots alone, but put on the coat, gloves, and hat before walking back through the house. He unlocked and opened one of the patio doors and stepped outside.

The cold immediately braced his cheeks, but he was warm otherwise, so he ignored it and walked to the edge of the deck and stood still. The snow was falling faster and getting thicker. Standing stock-still, Chris listened. He’d never have expected snow to make a sound, but it did, a soft underlying hum that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Through the increasingly thick falling snow, the lake and trees seemed to slowly retreat, getting father away as they were obscured by the swirling flakes.

The wind shook the branches of the surrounding pine trees, sending cascades of snow billowing around. Chris shivered as the chill went right through his clothes, and he turned and hurried inside before closing the patio door behind him with a resounding thud, as if to shut out the wind and the cold it brought. “Why did I come visit the cold? It’s beautiful,” he said out loud to try to fill some of the empty space, “but it’s so damned….” He shivered. “Cold!”

Chris found the thermostat and turned it up a few degrees, listening until he heard the soft, reassuring hum of the furnace. He took off the outside gear and placed it in the closet before deciding it would be best to hunt up something to eat. Martin was true to his word, and Chris found everything he could want. He made a salad and broiled a steak, then opened a bottle of wine and sat in front of the television to eat. His improving mood lasted until he found out there were only six stations, but at least Martin had Internet access, so he booted up his computer and found something to watch on Netflix.

The wind rattled the patio door, and Chris shivered again, but he was warm; the furnace’s sound reminded him of that. He had his feet up, his belly full, a glass of wine, and something to watch. He was fine. He could do this. Chris set his glass on a coaster before carrying his dishes to the sink. He rinsed them and looked around for the dishwasher. Not finding one, he placed the dishes in the sink and cleaned everything up before returning to his spot on the sofa. The wind whistled around the corner of the house, and Chris got up to find a blanket before curling under it on the sofa. Everything was fine; it was just the wind. After a while, Chris found the switch for one of the outside lights. He turned it on and peered through the window. All he saw was snow blowing and swirling in the circle the light created. He couldn’t even tell where the ground began. Chris turned off the light and sat back down on the sofa, returning to his movie.

The credits had just begun to roll and Chris was about to close the window when the house went dark, the glow of the computer screen the only light, and the howl of the wind sounding more and more like it was trying to get inside with him. Chris used the light from the computer to find his phone and called Martin.

“Hello,” Martin said.

“The power went out, and I’m going to freeze to death,” Chris said in a hurry, burrowing deeper under the blanket. “The wind is rattling everything, and I can only see snow outside. I’m going to die, and it’s all your fault.”

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Making the World Sexier One Reader at a Time

NEWSFLASH!!!

My time with the Silver snowflake has come to an end.

I hope you all found it in time as it has now been taken away.

Good luck with the rest of your hunt.

A Christmas Poem - By Me

My take on a Christmas classic

Made for Christmas 2011

Put to music by the Chocolate Minx

Don't Forget...

Today is my day for the Silver Snowflake it is only here for a short appearance so find it while you can. It will be gone in just under 28 hours.

Good Luck to all.

Cameron Lawton - SURPRISE!

SURPRISE!

By Cameron Lawton

Rory was in a foul mood.  He'd gone to bed early because this year he had no reason to celebrate Christmas at all. Jack was away on another of his bloody courses. Why he'd had to arrange it now, for Christ's sake …

Rory peered across at the red numbers on the alarm clock and swore. Four a.m. Four o'clock in the fucking morning! He thumped the pillow and muttered

“Merry bloody Christmas, Rory Sumner” and tried to get back to sleep but it was no good. He was wide awake and now busting for a piss.

He padded into the bathroom on bare feet and then got even more angry when some idiot started revving a motorbike up outside his flat. He threw open the bathroom window and stuck his head out, ready to ask the bastard if he knew what time it was.

His mouth, already half-open to swear, dropped even wider when he saw Jack, luscious in leather, gently twisting the throttle on a Norton Commando Interstate.  His lover waved at him and pointed at the motorbike.

“Like it?”

 Jack cut the engine and threw a long leg off the back of the bike, heaving it onto its stand, then racing up the steps to the flat, waving the bike keys in his hand, obviously excited as a ….. as a kid at Christmas.

When Rory opened the door, Jack was leaning on the wall, twirling the keyring around his finger and grinning, looking good enough to eat there and then.

“Happy Christmas, Major Sumner,” he laughed, throwing the keys to Rory who caught them and then grabbed Jack by the leather jacket's lapels and hauled him into his arms.

“You mad bastard! What are you doing? I thought you were in London?” Rory finally managed to say when they had finished kissing.

“I was. Just got back.”

Rory leaned back to look up into Jack's blue eyes and ran a hand over his soft blond hair.

“You're crazy, Joachim.”

“Yup, crazy for you,” his junior replied, bending forward to bite Rory's lip gently.  “I remembered that you said you used to ride a bike when you were a kid. So I got in touch with an old friend of mine and he found that one...it is the right one, isn't it?” That little worried crease between his eyebrows appeared again, as it usually did when Joachim was concerned.

Rory kissed him again, his tongue exploring Jack's mouth, half way between laughter and lust.

“You set all this up? You told me you were going on a course, just to get me that bike?” Rory asked.

Jack nodded.

“I wanted this Christmas to be special. I wanted to get you something you'd really like.” He hesitated and then continued in a rush. “Because this mate I went to see, he's ex police and I had a long chat with him about work.”

Rory had led Jack back to the bedroom and was getting him out of his jacket but he stopped and frowned at his lover.

“Yes?”

“Listen, Rory. You know we can't go on like this. Not in the Army. Well, Colin says that with our experience, we could set up as private detectives, easy. It would mean moving away from here but we could, you know, be together, properly.”

Rory threw himself on the bed and let out a long sigh

“You'd do that? Give up your career?”

“No – I'd take up a new career, with you. What say, Boss?”

Rory dragged Jack down with him and held him close.

“I say you are one crazy bastard, Joachim but …. yes, let's do it. Oh hell, I didn't get you a present!”

“Yes you did – you've just said we can be a proper couple. Best present I wanted,” Jack grinned down at Rory, tickling the hair on his chest.  “All I ever wanted. Happy Christmas, Rory.”

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Cameron Lawton, Author

Lisa Worrall - DOUBLE RELEASE DAY!!!

BLURB:

When his last boyfriend broke his heart and stole his life savings, Glenn figured he would be much safer if he closed the door on love and threw himself into his job as head window dresser in a large department store.

Unbeknownst to Glenn, while he continues to build a wall around his heart, his Guardian Angel is plotting to give him his happy ever after involving a mannequin and a sprig of mistletoe. 

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BLURB:

Isaac didn't do the cold.  He didn't do singing either. So trudging through the snow in minus temperatures, freezing his balls of to sing Fa lala to complete strangers, was not his idea of fun.

Until the tall, dark and handsome who opened the last door changed his mind.

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love...blinding, burning, all consuming