Archive for the ‘m/m’ Category

Guest Blogger: Lily Sawyer

Jan 10, 2012 Filed under: guest blogger, m/m

Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Lily Sawyer.  Well actually my name is Linda, but I write under the name Lily Sawyer.    I was born on Long Island New York, I always thought it was a special place to grow up, on an island, it actually didn’t feel so much like an island, you could drive east to west or west to east and never see the ocean for hours.    So it’s not like living on a tropical island where every vista is an ocean view.   In fact I had a co-worker who hated the water and avoided going near any of the coastal towns, I thought it was crazy.   I love the water,  I remember going to the beach as a kid with my parents and brother and we’d spend the day swimming and just watching the waves come in and out.

One of my special memories is going out to the East End of Long Island with a friend of mine.  The Long Island Railroad offered tours of the wineries and one summer my friend and I went on a tour of the north fork.  I’d never been out that way and it was exciting to see the vineyard and we got to see how they make the wine and we even got to taste the different varieties they make.

When I was thinking of a plot for a new story I thought about setting it on the East End and incorporating some of my experiences out there into my story.    That was how Gabriel and William were born.   Of course everything that happens in my story is complete fiction, but there are some memories of my time at the vineyard that weaved its way into the story.

During the time I was writing “Love on the East End” there were a lot of news stories about gay teens killing themselves.   While I hadn’t planned to have this topic appear in my story I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind so I let my muse go where it wanted and readers will be able to see how I handle this situation in my book.

I want to thank all who buy my book.   I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Love on the East End by Lily Sawyer (on sale through Jan 15!)

Blurb

Gabriel Meyer’s restaurant is a dream come true, but he gets more than he expected when in the course of his business he meets William Thomas, owner of Rolling Hills Winery. Food and wine more than come together on the east end of Long Island as they discover just how complementary Gabriel and William really are. Their seeming paradise is disturbed, however, when they meet young Ben Stewart—a troubled teen who is being bullied at school over his sexuality. Can they help this young man and fight the intolerance that lies on the east end of Long Island, or will it consume them?

Excerpt:
Chapter 1

Gabriel Meyers looked at the empty dining room of his brand new restaurant.  He’d just opened the doors two weeks ago and already the place was packed every night.

While he loved the hustle and bustle of the lunch and dinnertime crowd, he appreciated the quiet the morning hours afforded him.  He used the time to do all the paperwork and phone calls, which were a part of running a place like Maven.

“Gabriel, we have a problem with the wine order.” Pierre came running into the room to inform him.  He was the restaurant’s sommelier, and Gabriel met him at the culinary school in Paris.  He was studying to be a chef and when he decided to open his own place Pierre was one of the first friends he told.

“Oh what now?”  It always seemed to be something, you’d think having your own place on the north fork of the east end of Long Island in the middle of wine country would mean having an endless supply of wine.  Sadly, it wasn’t the case.  Sometimes they had special clients that wanted certain things the restaurant didn’t always have on hand.  Like now they were looking for a special vintage of Riesling to go with the duck being served at a fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration, which was happening this weekend.

“The Pindar Winery won’t have any ready for about three weeks.”

“Have you tried the other wineries?”

“I tried the Rolling Hills winery, they said they’d give us a call back.”

“We can’t sit on our hands on this, we need that wine.  I’ll call them again to see if I can make any headway.  Thanks Pierre.”

Gabriel heard the phone ringing and ran back to the office to pick it up.  He wished he’d looked at the caller ID before he answered.

“Hello?”

“Gabbie!”

His stomach tied up in knots when he heard the dulcet tones of his ex-wife on the other end.

“Willow,” he said through clenched teeth.  “What can I do for you?”  He wished more times then he could count that he and the blonde with the blue eyes and movie star body had never crossed paths.

“Gabe, you don’t sound very happy to hear from me.”

Truth be told he wasn’t. Their marriage was the biggest mistake of his life.  They’d met in New York City, she was acting at a theater club and he was waiting tables.  They started off as friends, hanging out with friends and family.  Then ended up getting married.

Gabriel knew they had rushed into something that was never meant to be.  He did love Willow, but he was never in love with her.   He was gay; it took him a long time for him to admit it to himself, let alone to Willow.  He finally told her two years after they’d said ‘I do.’  She was stunned at first, then she told him she had a feeling something was different about him, but she hadn’t been able to put her finger on it.

They got a divorce, their story made the rounds with the tabloids.  Fortunately he was able to hide his secret of being gay, he was only too glad they left him alone and glommed onto her.

When one reporter intimated they’d split because Gabriel was gay, he asked an old friend from school if he could hang out with her to make it look like they were dating.  She was only too happy to help him throw them off the scent, even going so far as to make sure they were seen in public, holding hands and walking the streets of Brooklyn having brunch at a restaurant one Sunday morning.

“Willow, I’m kinda busy, what can I do for you?”

“Is that any way to talk to your ex-wife?”

He cringed when she said ex-wife, their divorce hadn’t been as clean a break as he would have liked.  She got nasty when he asked for the house on Long Island.  She had several properties; she barely spent any time there.  Her favorite spot was a condo on the upper east side of Manhattan.

“Well, I’m having a party to honor Chuck Scarborough, you remember my agent?  He’s celebrating thirty years in the business and I wanted to do something special.   He has a home not far from your restaurant and I want to rent out the back deck and hire a DJ and just do it up big.”

“How big?”  Despite how their marriage ended, Gabriel knew Willow could bring him a lot of big business with all the big wigs in the music and entertainment industry she could connect him with.

“About one hundred.”

“When?”  Maven could easily handle that many people.

“Weekend after next.”

It was spring and the weather was getting nice enough so they could start using the deck outside.  The restaurant faced Long Island Sound and on a clear day you could see Connecticut.

“How about I put you in touch with Annie, our party planner? She can iron out all the details. I don’t see any problem having the party here.”

“Thanks, Gabe, I knew you wouldn’t let me down.”

“Sure thing. Thanks for thinking of Maven for your party.”  They hung up.  He’d let Annie know about the party later, right now he had some Riesling to wrangle up.

****

William Thomas loved wine; there wasn’t anything he didn’t know about it.   His interest started when he took a trip to France and toured the wine country and it was like he finally found what he wanted to do with his life there in the middle of vineyard.   When he got back home he did everything necessary to begin his journey from a beginner everyone in the industry scoffed at to a well-respected wine maker.   Even his family, who were not thrilled with his decision to go into the winemaking business, became his biggest supporters.

Rolling Hills winery was the result of all the blood, sweat and tears.

William loved opening up the winery to tourists and often joined them in the wine tasting room.

Women came on to him all the time, he enjoyed the flirting.  But that was all it was ever going to be.    He wondered what these same women would think if they could see him dancing on the dance floors at one the gay bars on Fire Island.

He’d never had a serious relationship, content for years to play the field until he hit the big three-O six months ago.  Now he was looking for that special person, but it sure wasn’t easy to find him.  He decided if it was meant to happen it would happen.

****

Gabriel turned down the long linden-lined drive.   He parked in front of the quaint, Tudor style house at the end. He got out of the car, walked over to the fencing and looked at the rows of grape vines that went on towards the Sound.   There was just something about being out in the open air that made him feel so peaceful.

“Like what you see?”  A deep, sexy voice startled him out of his reverie.

“Oh geeze, you startled me.”  Gabriel put his hand over his beating heart, which beat even faster when he got a good look at the curly blond haired man that had snuck up behind him.

“Sorry,” the blond stuck out his hand.  “I’m William Thomas, owner of Rolling Hills winery.”

Gabriel grasped the proffered hand and gave it a squeeze. “I’m Gabriel Meyers. I own Maven. I called about getting four cases of Riesling.”

“Ah yes my partner Steve told me you’d called.”

Gabriel didn’t know why hearing the word ‘partner’ bothered him, he’d just met William a moment ago and yet it felt like Cupid’s arrow had pierced him in the heart.

“I had them set aside for you.  They’re in the barrel room. How about I give you a tour of the place? I mean if you have the time.”  William flashed his pearly whites at him and Gabriel couldn’t resist the opportunity to spend more time with the tall blond.

William must have been about six-one or six-two.  He didn’t tower over Gabriel’s own height of six feet, but he still had to crane his head just a little to meet the chocolate brown gaze.

“I have plenty of time, the restaurant doesn’t open until noon.”

“Well, then, let me give you the grand tour.” William led him to one of the pickup trucks parked next to the house. They took a drive around the vineyard.  William explained the different varieties of grapes they grew and what kinds of wine were produced from them. He even got a chance to watch one of the grape picking machines at work, carefully picking the fruit off the vine and separating out the stems.

“I can tell you, Gabriel, that is one expensive piece of machinery.  Had to get it imported from Italy.”

“Really? Wow!”  Gabriel was very impressed. He knew about wines, after all you can’t live in Paris like he had and study culinary arts and not learn about them.  He wasn’t an expert like Pierre, but he knew enough to know how to pair them with food and not embarrass himself.

As far as the growing end, he knew little but he sure was getting an education now.

“Has this winery been in your family for long?”   The wineries on Long Island had started up about thirty-six years ago.   No comparison to the centuries old vineyards in Europe but they still had made their mark in the wine making industry none-the-less.

William laughed. “No I’m the only one in my family interested in wine.  My father is a lawyer and my mom is a fashion designer.  My older brother is a screenwriter.   He ‘s worked on a few movies, and he lives out in LA.”

“What made you decide to go into the wine industry?”

“I was going to school in northern California and my friends wanted to spend spring break in Napa Valley.   I just fell in love with wines and wanted to learn the business.  I came back to Long Island and started my own winery.  Rolling Hills is the result.  We’re celebrating our tenth year.”

“Congratulations!  Your family must be proud.”

“Thank.  Well I can’t say they were thrilled, but they saw the passion I have and they’ve been very supportive.”

They parked next to the house and William took him to the barrel room.  One of the workers took the cases of Riesling and put the in Gabriel’s car.

“Do you want to stick around for lunch?”  William offered his new friend.

Just then Gabriel’s cell phone went off.

“Hello?” Gabriel walked a few feet away from the other man.  “What! No I know I placed that order a week ago, what do you mean they don’t have a record of the order?’  He paused.  “Shit, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”   He shut the flip phone closed.  “Damn.”

“Problem?”

“Yeah, I had a champagne order that was supposed to be delivered this morning and they have no record of it.  I need it for an engagement party tonight.”

“I think I can help you out there, just hang out here for a bit.”  After Gabriel told him he needed some Dom Perignon, William went inside the house.  He returned a few minutes later with a smile on his face. “It’s done, I got you the champagne you needed.  It should be delivered to the restaurant in about an hour.”

“How did you manage that?”  Gabriel was surprised.

“I know plenty of people around here. There’s a place on the south fork that carries some wonderful champagne.   I got you a case.  Unless you wanted more?”

“No, a case is fine.   I can’t thank you enough for helping me.”

“Forget it, I was glad to help.”

Gabriel slid into the driver’s seat of his car and started the engine.   “Hey how about coming to our wine tasting event? We’re having it on Friday night at seven thirty.”

“Sure, sounds like fun. I’ll bring a good vintage from our special collection.”

“You can bring your partner if you want too.” Gabriel took off without waiting for an answer from William.  Truth be told he didn’t want him to bring anyone else, let alone his partner.   But it wouldn’t have been polite to invite him without his lover.

‘Why are the good ones always straight or taken?’  He asked himself as he drove, with a heavy heart, back to Maven.

Buy Love on the East End here while it’s on sale!

Visit Lily Sawyer at her blog.

Favorite M/M Reads of 2011

Dec 31, 2011 Filed under: book recommendation, m/m, reading

I’ve been reading lots of posts listing people’s top picks from what they’ve read this year and since I can’t resist a good list, I decided to join in too. I’ve read more in the m/m genre this year than any other so I decided to highlight some of the books that led me on this path both for reading and writing.

Favorite Books Published in 2011 (in no particular order)

Come Unto These Yellow Sands by Josh Lanyon

Bear, Otter, and the Kid by TJ Klune

Quinn’s Need by SJD Peterson

Bounty by Hank Edwards

Blood Howl by Alex Kidwell and Robin Saxon

Learning to Samba by Johnny Miles

The Birches by Xavier Axelson

A Summit City Christmas by Ethan Day (as well as Sno Ho and Life in Fusion)

Divide and Conquer by Madeline Urban and Abigail Roux (and the rest of the Cut and Run series)

Morning Report by Sue Brown

 

And a few more that were published before 2011 but deserve a place here

Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon

SubSurdity and Suburbilicious by Eric Arvin

Comfort and Joy by Jim Grimsley

 

 

Holiday Recipe Extravaganza – Keira Andrews

Dec 21, 2011 Filed under: guest blogger, holiday, Holiday Recipe Extravaganza, m/m, recipes, sweet treats

Here’s a yummy twist on the standard latke. I think Nate’s mother might initally frown upon anything but the traditional latke at Hanukkah, but these are so tasty she’d come around!

Pesto Latkes

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes
1 medium onion
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
1/3 cup pasteurized egg substitute
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

Peel potatoes, then grate them through the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Squeeze in small batches between your hands over the sink to remove excess moisture. Then grate onion into the bowl through the same holes in the box grater.

Stir in garlic, basil, egg substitute, cheese, oil, salt and pepper. Place a generous 1/2 cup of the potato mixture into each muffin cup, packing the mixture firmly.

Bake the latkes until lightly browned and firm, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before unmolding.

 

Eight Nights by Keira Andrews

Blurb:

Lucas McKenzie figures spending the holidays with his annoying roommate’s family is better than being alone on campus. The last thing he expects is to lust over Sam’s brother — or for Nate to actually want him back.

They hide their attraction during Hanukkah celebrations, but behind closed doors, Lucas and Nate can’t keep their hands (or mouths) off each other. Nate’s only looking for a bit of holiday fun, and amazing sex with a hot virgin definitely fits the bill.

Yet as the candles burn, Nate and Lucas begin to realize eight nights will never be enough.

Excerpt:

As Nate went through the steps, Lucas tried to pay attention. At one point, Nate handed him a pair of rubber-tipped tongs, and Lucas dutifully plucked out a developed photo and hung it on the line. They worked in companionable silence, and Lucas found he enjoyed watching the photographs come to life. They were all black-and-white cityscapes, and he felt a frisson of excitement, knowing he’d get a chance to finally see New York for himself in the days to come. “You took all of these?” Lucas admired the clean lines and unique angles of the photos.

Nate waved his hand dismissively. “Yeah, I’m just messing around.”

“I’d like to see what you can do when you’re taking it seriously because these are amazing.”

“It’s nice of you to say so.” Nate wiped his hands on a towel and plucked a doughnut from the plate Lucas had left on the counter. “We just need to wait now before we open the door.”

Nate didn’t seem comfortable with praise, so Lucas stopped talking and took his own doughnut, relishing the sweet, fruity flavor. He couldn’t understand why Nate trivialized his talent. Lucas was no expert, but he found the photographs beautiful.

They ate in silence, and Lucas noticed a blob of jelly filling on the corner of Nate’s mouth. Before he could think, he reached out, swiping at it with his finger. Their eyes locked, and Lucas froze, his hand still at Nate’s mouth.

Oh God, what was he doing?

He stayed in place, not breathing as he and Nate stared at each other in the muted red light. Before Lucas could process what was happening, Nate’s tongue curled out and licked the jelly from his finger. A jolt of desire ran though Lucas, and he swallowed thickly, his throat suddenly dry.

Nate turned his head just a bit and sucked Lucas’s finger into his mouth.

As Lucas moaned low in his throat, Nate yanked him close, and they were kissing. Lucas’s head swam from the explosion of sensations he felt.

He was actually kissing another man.

He opened his mouth and Nate’s tongue dived in, probing and stroking as his hands ran over Lucas’s back, down to his ass.

Quiet, mild-mannered Nathaniel Kramer was grabbing his ass.

His head swimming, Lucas kissed Nate back, his body alive in a way it never had been while kissing a girl. The scratch of Nate’s stubble, his musky scent — every thing about him was so male, and any lingering doubts Lucas had about being gay melted away as he explored Nate’s mouth.

They both gasped for air, and Lucas realized that his jeans were undone as Nate sank to his knees. “What are you…?”

Buy it here.

Learn more about Keira Andrews:
Website
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Holiday Recipe Extravaganza – RJ Scott

Dec 19, 2011 Filed under: guest blogger, holiday, Holiday Recipe Extravaganza, m/m, recipes, sweet treats

Poor Jesse… I bet Gabriel drags him to a Christmas Shortbread making event!

Jesse’s Christmas, coming from Silver Publishing 25 December

Blurb:

For Jesse Connor, Christmas is nothing but a series of bad memories. It takes a man imbued with the spirit of Christmas to help him realize that the Christmas spirit lies in everyone–if they only know where to look.

Recipe

Jane Asher’s Chocolate Caramel Shortbread

Ingredients

175g spreadable butter

75g castor sugar

200g plain flour

25g soft brown sugar

450g tin (or squeezy bottle) condensed milk

200g milk chocolate drops

Makes 10-12 slices

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 175g°C (160°C fan assisted, 350°F, gas mark 4). Grease and line a 7”x11” baking tray

2. Put 150g of the butter into a mixing bowl, together with the castor sugar. With a wooden spoon, cream together until soft .

3. Add the flour, and mix together, pressing the flour into the butter/sugar with the back of the spoon

4. Turn the mix out into the pan, pressing it evenly out with your hand to fill the pan

5. Bake for 30-35 minutes until just beginning to colour at the edges. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin

6. Put the remaining butter, brown sugar and condensed milk into a small pan.

7. Heat carefully, stirring all the time, until it begins to bubble – keep scraping right round the bottom, or it will catch and burn (although don’t worry if you do find up a few dark bits – once covered in chocolate you’ll never notice!)

8. Keep stirring until the mix thickens – this will only take a couple of minutes – then remove from the heat and, still stirring, let it cool for a few seconds, before spreading it over the shortbread base. Allow to cool

9. Melt the chocolate in a basin over hot water or in the microwave, then spread it evenly over the base.

10. Leave the chocolate to set, then divide into rectangles

Holiday Recipe Extravaganza – Cherie Noel

Dec 18, 2011 Filed under: guest blogger, holiday, Holiday Recipe Extravaganza, m/m, recipes, sweet treats

Part and parcel of my holiday story is one of my favorite Christmas recipes. I wrote it into the story so I’ll give you the recipe as it occurs at the end of my story, Christmas Rum Balls. I knew I wanted to use the cookies in a Christmas story, and then when I realized how much my main character Tony loves to cook it was an easy step to get him to divulge his super secret recipe for the good of people everywhere.
Tony’s Rum Ball Recipe

Listen. First youse gotta have mixin’ bowls and bakin’ stuff.

‘Cept youse don’t gotta bake for these.

So youse can make em with the kids and old folks and people who might not remember the rules about makin’ hot stuff.

Okay.

Second, youse gotta put love into ’em. They taste better that way.

No, really, they do.

So, here’s the list.

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups of Nilla wafers. Crush ’em up good. Youse gonna start out with a whole box of the suckers, but when they gets crushed? 2 ½ cup.

2 tablespoons of cocoa. (Me? I love this stuff)

1 ¼ cups icing sugar. Youse can find it in the baking aisle in the grocery store. Just ask the clerks, ’cause they always know where ta find stuff.

½ cup of Spiced Rum. Or youse can use Bourbon. But, the cookies are Rum Balls, so I think youse should use the rum. On account of that’s what they’re called.

2 tablespoons of white corn syrup. It’s the clearish kind, like Karo syrup. That’s a brand name.

1 cup of pecans or walnuts, broke up kinda good. I like the walnuts better. ‘Cause putting something called “pee can” in my food just seems wrong, youse know what I mean?

Now youse need to know how ta put it all together.

Directions:

Youse gotta mix the cocoa with 1 cup of the sugar in a special way the fancy cooks call sifting. If youse don’t have a sifter, youse can just mix them up real good. But youse might wanna think about using maybe a fine mesh colander. That could do for a sifter in a pinch.

Mix the rum and the syrup together, and then stir them into the cocoa an’ sugar mix.

Pour in the crushed up Nilla wafers (I guess any vanilla wafers would work, but I like the Nilla ones) and the nuts.

Mix everything up real good.

Make little bouncy balls or walnut size balls. Then youse can either roll them in the remaining icing sugar or leave ’em plain. I love sweets, so I put the extra sugar on.

Then youse just store them in a tin.

It’s best to make Christmas Rum Balls a little early so they have time to sit and get tastier. So make them about a week before youse wanna eat ’em.

Christmas Rum Balls  by Cherie Noel

Santa Neil in leather, elf Tony in a sock;
Watch naughty Kevin, falling like a rock.
He’s off the nice list—coal city’s straight ahead,
‘Til a miracle’s made with wrist restraints, a bow and Rum Balls in their bed.

Santa Neil and Elf Tony have a problem. Their wayward boy Kevin, fallen off the nice list and headed straight for coal-in-the-stocking-city, is hauling around a truckload of unnecessary guilt.

Together, they mix up a brand new recipe for Christmas fun, complete with Santa Neil in leather, Elf Tony in a smile and a strategically placed sock, and of course, some delicious Christmas Rum Balls. Their bring the big day early, but one question still remains…Can they entice Naughty Kevin to release his burden and open his sweet self to the Christmas spirit all around him?

Excerpt

Holiday Recipe Extravaganza – Augusta Li

Dec 17, 2011 Filed under: guest blogger, holiday, Holiday Recipe Extravaganza, m/m, recipes, sweet treats

Hi Silvia! My name is Augusta Li (Gus), author of Wisp and White Hart, part of the Dreaming of a White Christmas anthology at Silver Publishing. Among other things, Wisp and White Hart is the story of two young men, Dust and Elijah, who are estranged from their families and are all each other have. They find their way to an inn in rural Yorkshire on Christmas Eve, and decide to start their own holiday traditions, including a delicious regional meal. Elijah, a former cook, wishes he could prepare a holiday dinner for his partner. He misses cooking and baking cookies. So, in the spirit of family and tradition, here is the recipe for my grandmother’s almond cookies. Read on for an excerpt from the book!

Chinese Almond Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup white sugar (can add up to 2 more tablespoons, if desired)
• 1 egg
• 2 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
• 1/4 pound whole, blanched almonds (one for each cookie)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

 

1.Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (162.5 degrees Celsius).
2.In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the butter or margarine, shortening, and sugar. Add the egg and almond extract and beat until well blended. Add to the flour mixture and mix well. Note: The dough will be crumbly at this point, but don’t worry – that is what it’s supposed to be like.
3. Use your fingers to form the mixture into a dough, and then form the dough into 2 rolls or logs that are 10 to 12 inches long. Wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours (this will make it easier to shape the dough into circles).
4. Take a log and lightly score the dough at 3/4 inch intervals so that you have 15 pieces and cut the dough. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a lightly greased cookie tray, approximately 1 1/2 inches apart. Place an almond in the center of each cookie and press down lightly. Repeat with the remaining dough.
5. Brush each cookie lightly with beaten egg before baking. Bake for 15 minutes to 18 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and store in a sealed container.

 

Wisp and White Heart by Augusta Li

Available December 20^th from Silver Publishing

Being stranded in rural Yorkshire on Christmas Eve offers Elijah and Dust a romantic vacation from their dangerous work, until a strange man with unfathomable motives appears in need of their assistance.

Excerpt:

A waning, gibbous moon peeked from behind the thick mantle of snow clouds now and then, accentuating a jut of limestone, the crumbling ruin of a Roman wall, or just a gentle knoll or valley. Fat flakes of snow spiraled lazily down, gradually covering more and more of the Yorkshire landscape. A mottled gray sky stretched toward the horizon, making Elijah Tupper feel that the thirty year old pickup in which they rode was driving toward the edge of the world. He didn’t feel uneasy, only humbled. For the last several hours, he’d watched in wonder as the rugged beauty of the Wolds and Dales rolled past. The arched ruins of medieval abbeys and priories stood black against the luminous expanse of clouds. Stretches of woods cropped up and faded back into the moor, and waterfalls rushed down tiers of stone before foaming into plumes of white mist at the bottoms. Elijah rested his temple against the passenger window and watched the austere, monochromatic vista. Snowflakes dissolved into shimmering droplets where they hit the glass.

Beside him, Elijah’s partner Dust looked sleepily through the windshield. An old Yorkshire man in a knitted hat and leather gloves drove the truck. Mr Thomas Whipple had been kind enough to stop when he’d seen the two young men wandering through the inhospitable Dales. He had jowls like a bull dog and eyes perpetually squinted from decades of wind and sun. He was a man of few words, but had offered to give the two men a ride to the nearest village on the way to his farm. He smelled of dried alfalfa and the lanolin from his sheep. None of the three men said much as the old pickup, low on its axles due to the many sacks of grain in its bed, bounced along the rocky paths.

Though he and Dust had spent some time in London, and recently in Leeds, Elijah had never been so far north before. Beneath the snow, limestone, and chalk, Elijah felt a strong but dormant current of magic, like an underground stream. Remnants of Roman sorcery and medieval enchantment braided with the ancient power inherent in the northern land to form a mystic mélange that Elijah felt humming in his bones and teeth. He knew that Dust, a fellow magic-user, sensed the same enchantment.

A few weeks before, a wealthy family in Leeds had hired the two enchanters to investigate their son’s fiancée, a beautiful North African princess. It hadn’t taken long for Elijah and Dust to realize the princess was an ifrit, a desert spirit similar to a djinn. They’d prepared spells to force the creature into its true form and bind it. They hadn’t anticipated for the young man to admit his knowledge of his beloved’s nature, nor for the epic fight that ensued during a dinner party. The two young men had defeated the ifrit and the spirits it summoned, but not without destroying the eastern wing of the family’s ancestral home. Glass and limestone had rained to the street below. The fire that started had quickly spread through the house and to the nearby buildings. Inevitably, the authorities had arrived: fire trucks, ambulances, and an army of police. Elijah and Dust, rather than answer difficult questions, fled the scene. Elijah stole an Austin-Healey Sprite and they drove it into the Dales until it ran out of gas. The snow had started right around then, and they’d continued on foot until Mr Whipple had been kind enough to stop.

They’d left their bags, with all their extra clothing and possessions, behind. Luckily, Elijah had the enchanted katana he’d acquired during his first adventure with Dust, and he knew Dust had at least a few days worth of money in his pocket. Since it was Christmas Eve, it would be some time before they could access any of their accounts.

The old pickup crested a hill and slowly descended into a valley, where around thirty small buildings stood nestled between two high, steep knolls. They huddled around the single, dirt road that ran through the village. Mr Whipple stopped in front of a white-washed structure with a thatched roof and a shingle that read The White Hart Inn and Public House.

“I’ll leave you lads off here, then,” he said in a gruff but friendly voice. Dust shook the man’s hand and offered him a few pounds, which he declined.

“Thank you so much, Mr Whipple,” Elijah said as he stepped into the snow with the brown sack of groceries he’d purchased when they’d stopped at a small market after the Sprite ran out of fuel. He’d been it carrying for miles when Mr Whipple showed them charity. “Have a Merry Christmas.”

“Same to you, lads,” the man said before he shut the passenger door and drove off, his tires leaving gray ruts in the otherwise virgin snow. When he’d gone, the village was so silent Elijah swore he could hear the fall of the flakes on the old buildings. If magic had run like rivulets beneath the rest of the landscape, beneath this small town it pooled in a vast reservoir. Elijah felt it purr and pulsate beneath his sneakers, the power tingling up his legs. He looked at the pub. An inviting light spilled from its windows of beveled, amber glass.

“This is probably the only place in town,” he said to Dust. Melting snow sparkled on Dust’s black hair and thick eyelashes, and the cold had nipped his golden cheeks dark red. Elijah squeezed Dust’s wrist. “Let’s go inside. I’m hungry.”

“Me too,” Dust agreed, opening the two dark, wooden doors and holding one for Elijah. The White Hart’s interior was warm and cheery, lit by old wall sconces and a healthy fire in the stone hearth. Dark paneling, similar to the wood of the doors, covered the walls and floor. Ivy, holly, and red tapers decorated the tables, and evergreen wreaths with red velvet bows adorned the walls. A large, L-shaped bar stood at the back of the room, though no patrons occupied the wooden stools around it. The glasses and bottles of liquor twinkled, and a savory smell drifted from the kitchens beyond. Dust inhaled deeply and smiled before he approached the elderly couple drying pint glasses together.

“Good evening,” he said, as Elijah stood a few feet back. “Are you the proprietors?”

“Aye,” said the gentleman, eying them with a bit of suspicion.

Elijah knew how they looked. Dust’s long, black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, though a few loose strands clung to his damp cheek, and his light, silver eyes looked out of place on his dark, Asian-featured face. Often people sensed Dust’s otherworldly nature and felt uncomfortable. Elijah imagined he probably looked a little rough himself, with his unruly, blond hair hanging to his shoulders beneath his heather-blue, knitted cap with the pom-pom and two days worth of stubble on his face. He remembered the elaborate sword he wore on his back. Also, their American accents marked them as outsiders. Luckily, Dust knew how to charm and manipulate people when he needed to: he’d had centuries of practice after all. If all else failed, Dust could employ a simple charm to gain the trust of the pub owners. Slipping his hat off and sticking it in his coat pocket, Elijah left Dust to it and found a table close to the fire. He observed the old tin signs that decorated the walls and the porcelain angels on the mantle as he listened half-heartedly to the exchange.

The Hart had three rooms to rent, and since there were no other guests, Elijah and Dust would have the best. The man poured two ales and gave Dust a key while his wife went to prepare some supper for her young guests. Dust brought the drinks to the table and sat down across from Elijah. He looked around at the stuffed animal heads: stags, boars, foxes, and wildcats mounted on wooden plaques. “This isn’t too bad,” he said with a smile. “It’ll be like an adventure.”

“It’s kind of romantic,” Elijah agreed, sipping the foam from his ale and looking at his partner’s face in the low, golden light. He liked the content smile on Dust’s full lips, liked that he saw it more and more lately. “At least we’re safe. Those were some bad times back in Leeds.”

“Yeah. We couldn’t have known.”

Taking another deep gulp from his glass, Elijah said, “Did we do the right thing, killing the ifrit?”

“It was self-defense by then,” Dust assured, draping his hand over Elijah’s knuckles. “She would have killed us.”

“But she loved that man, and he loved her…”

“He claimed to,” Dust corrected. “He might have been under a powerful spell.”

“Or he might not,” Elijah said. “We didn’t know for sure. People used to think you put a spell on me. It’s not impossible that they actually loved each other.”

“It’s improbable,” Dust said. “Creatures like that are masters of manipulating human emotions. I’m sure we did him a favor. We probably freed him from her thrall. I didn’t sense any authentic emotion.”

Though he nodded, Elijah recalled the young man’s grief. He couldn’t help imagining how it would feel to lose Dust. It scared him more than anything, more than death itself. He hated to think he’d caused anyone else that pain.

 

*****

 

Also check out these other books in the Ensorcelled series, featuring Elijah and Dust:

 

Epiphany- Ensorcelled #1
The Midnight Children- Ensorcelled #1.1
Wisp and White Hart- Ensorcelled #1.2

 

Thanks so much for having me, Silvia. It’s been a pleasure. I wish you and all of your readers prosperity and good fortune in the new year!

 

Holiday Recipe Extravaganza – Ellis Carrington

Dec 16, 2011 Filed under: guest blogger, holiday, Holiday Recipe Extravaganza, m/m, recipes, sweet treats

Cozy up this holiday season with a couple of mugs of sweet & spicy Mexican hot cocoa, and the hot heroes of Amor Prohibido.

Simple Mexican Hot Cocoa (adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons instant hot chocolate mix
• 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch chili powder
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup boiling water

 

Directions

In a large mug, mix the hot chocolate mix, chocolate syrup, cinnamon, and chili powder. Pour in the milk. Add the boiling water and stir. You may need to play with the water/milk ratio to get it just right. Enjoy!

 

About Amor Prohibido:

Jacob Freehan has no job, no man, and no motivation. In pain both from ending a long-term abusive relationship and a severe back injury, he escapes to the sunny seaside town of Puerto Morelos for a little yoga, a little R&R, and possibly a place to quietly end his own life.

Pakal is a centuries-old immortal Mayan spirit guide who has been charged with getting Jacob on the path toward healing. Romantic involvement with a spirit charge is strictly forbidden, and it has never been a problem…until now. Pakal sees something special in Jacob, but failure to keep a rapidly growing attraction at bay could result in Jacob losing his life and Pakal being condemned to the Underworld forever…

Excerpt:

“Uh, yeah. Hi. Pakal, right?” As if he didn’t remember. Just like he remembered the hills and valleys of the large man’s muscular arms, the golden glow of the sun as it shimmered on his chest. The strong grip with which the man had shaken Jacob’s hand. He had, in fact, remembered it the night before in his dreams, and again that morning in the shower.

Pakal nodded and grasped Jacob’s injured leg without any pause to request permission. “Let me look at this,” he murmured.

Ah, damn. Pakal’s hands were warm, firm, and alarmingly reassuring as they massaged the muscles around Jacob’s aching knee. And then…there was that strange pulse again, strongest at the points where Pakal’s hand touched Jacob’s skin.

Though it had been a little startling at first, the sensation wasn’t at all unpleasant. It reminded Jacob of walking into a large dance club and feeling his body throb along with the bass line of his favorite music. He had an inexplicable urge to place a hand over Pakal’s bare chest, to see if it was the larger man’s heartbeat that Jacob’s body was vibing with.

Amor Prohibido is available from Amber Allure and Amazon. Also check out Goodreads for Ellis’s free short story, Yes, Sir. Find out more at EllisCarrington.com, Ellis’s author page on Facebook, or on Twitter @MMbyEllis.

Holiday Recipe Extravaganza – Deep Dark Chocolate Truffles

Dec 15, 2011 Filed under: book release, holiday, Holiday Recipe Extravaganza, m/m, recipes, sweet treats Tags: chocolate truffles, gay erotica, gay romance, holiday baking, m/m erotica, m/m romance

I adore David Lebovitz. He’s a witty writer and a creative genius with baked goods. So it’s no surprise that when I imagine the truffles that Ben makes in One Kiss, I’m imagining something very similar to this recipe from Daivd Lebovitz’s The Great Book of Chocolate.

Deep Dark Chocolate Truffles

3/4 cup heavy cream

8-10 oz bittersweet or semisweet baking chocolate, chopped

1-3 tsp cognac or another liqueur you enjoy

Coating

4 oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

1/2 cup cocoa powder

Bring cream just to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted. Stir in liqueur and transfer to a bowl. Let stand for two hours or until firm or chill in the fridge until firm and then allow it to warm slightly before using.

Use a melon baller to scoop the mixture into 3/4 in balls. Dip it in warm water before scooping to make scooping easier (You can use a soup spoon if you don’t have a melon baller.) Once all the mixture is scooped, roll the balls in your hands to smooth them.

Chill until firm.

Melt the 4oz of chocolate in a double boiler or very carefully in the microwave. Spread cocoa powder on a pie plate.

Now prepare to get a bit messy. (I like using my hands to make food. It adds to the sensual experience :))  Spread some of the melted chocolate in the palm of one hand. Roll one of the balls in the chocolate, keeping your other hand clean. Then drop the ball in the pie plate. Repeat until the pie plate is getting full. Then shake cocoa over the truffles on the plate. Shake them in a strainer to remove excess cocoa.

Serve them immediately or refrigerate for up to 10 days. Truffles make wonderful gifts as Ben knows well in One Kiss.

One Kiss by Silvia Violet

Jake Sanders comes home for Christmas after a dreary semester filled with sleepless nights and a cheating boyfriend. Finding a new man is the last thing on his mind until he discovers that Ben Swinburne now owns the bakery where they both once worked.

Five years ago, Jake and Ben shared a single kiss, and Jake has never forgotten the way Ben’s lips felt against his. When Ben catches Jake under the mistletoe, passion ignites between them.

This time around, Ben wants more than one kiss, but Jake isn’t sure he’s ready for another relationship. Can Jake move past his pain and open his heart, or will he miss out on a second chance with the man of his dreams?

For an excerpt and a sugar cookie recipe, click here.

Holiday Recipe Extravaganza – AJ Llewellyn

Dec 14, 2011 Filed under: guest blogger, holiday, Holiday Recipe Extravaganza, m/m, recipes, sweet treats

Mele Kalikimaka By A. J.  Llewellyn

This is the first Christmas in several years where I am not spending it in Hawaii but I will still be having a Hawaiian Christmas. The first Christmas ever celebrated in the islands was in 1786 in Waimea Bay, on the island of Kauai. The crew of the Queen Charlotte all missed their families and their traditional foods, but improvised. They ate Hawaiian pig instead of goose and coconut milk with their rum.

Christmastime in Hawaii has always been about making strangers feel welcome and for those without their families to have a place to celebrate the holidays. What I love about the expression Mele Kalikimaka is that everybody says it to each other. It means, roughly translated, Happy Songs. And who doesn’t love happy songs?

My Christmases there have always been amazing and this year, my Hawaiian family and friends are coming to me!

We will eat Happy Cakes, ambrosia and all kinds of yummy things but my favorite Hawaiian Christmas recipe is for Hawaiian Reindeer Snacks. I discovered this recipe when I played Santa a few years ago for my niece and nephew. We made this recipe because they insisted that reindeer get bored with carrots. I am inclined to agree and ahem, whoever plays Santa gets to enjoy these yummy morsels!

Hawaiian Reindeer Snacks

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

2/3 cup honey

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla extract

4 cups regular oats, uncooked

1 cup unsalted macadamia nuts

1-1/2 cups candied pineapple chopped into small pieces

Combine peanut butter, honey, and cinnamon in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thoroughly heated (do not allow it to boil). Stir in vanilla. Spread oats in a lightly greased 15z10x1 inch jellyroll pan. Pour peanut butter mixture over oats; stir to coat evenly. Bake at 300 F for 35 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in macadamia nuts. Turn oven off and let cool in oven 1-1/2 hours with door closed, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven; stir in candied pineapple pieces. Cut into pieces. Mmm!

My book, Christmas in Flip Flops, coming to Amber Allure on December 18 is set in Honolulu and reflects this type of tradition since the main character is away from his family thanks to his new job in Honolulu…

Blurb:
It’s twelve days ’til Christmas and Devon Callahan is a dental hygienist with a very big problem…make that two. He’s been unemployed for months and now a thief’s stolen his cell phone. Tracking the guy through Mobile Me, he’s got a cyber lead on his purloined phone, but he’s also hot on the trail of a mysterious new job…what’s a guy almost maxed out on his credit cards to do?

He goes to his interview and discovers he could soon be gainfully employed. The catch is he’d have to fly to sunny Waikiki within twenty-four hours to start work at Schofield Barracks, caring for the health of thousands of US service men and women stationed in the islands.

Devon is thrilled to be part of such an important post, but what’s his boyfriend, Manco, going to say? His movie producer lover is expecting his entire family to visit from Peru. Will he see the sunny side of Christmas in flip flops…or will Devon be feasting on dinner for one?

Excerpt:
…It was after seven by the time he got home. He heard music playing in the apartment as soon as he opened the door. He stood for a moment in the darkness, listening for voices. He could hear Manco’s soft laughter and his heart almost sank. Who was making him laugh like that?

He switched on a couple of lamps and progressed toward the bedroom. The door was ajar and he could hear Manco talking, but his words were obscured by the sexy, growly voice of Garou, one of their favorite artists to make love to.

Oh, my God. He’s brought somebody to our house! What the fuck?

He pushed open the door and found his lover on the bed naked, his cock hard as he stroked himself, dictating into a small, pocket recorder.

Manco looked up, smiled and switched off the recorder, crawling across the bed to him.

“Where have you been? I’m going crazy without you. Damn…” His fingers reached for Devon’s face. “Do those scratches sting?”

Devon felt himself scuttle forward, his hips naturally jutting toward his lover’s face. Manco buried his face in Devon’s crotch. To Devon’s dismay, Manco began to cry.

No…not cry. Howl.

“What’s wrong?” Devon dropped to his knees, taking his lover’s face in his hands, kissing the tears that flooded Manco’s beautiful face. “Baby, please…tell me what happened.”

Manco only grew more hysterical. Tears were not his thing. Never. The last time he’d seen Manco cry was when his grandmother died. He could still bust up at the mere mention of her name, but this…this seemed like a new trauma…

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou – Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!

Aloha oe, AJ
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Holiday Recipe Extravaganza – Sugar Cookies

Dec 11, 2011 Filed under: book release, contemporary, excerpts, holiday, Holiday Recipe Extravaganza, m/m, recipes, sweet treats Tags: Christmas romance, gay romance, m/m romance, sugar cookies

Today I’m celebrating the release of my Christmas story, One Kiss. When I decided to write a Christmas story back in the heat of summer, I knew I wanted to highlight the significance of family traditions. One thing I loved about Christmas as a child were all the holiday activities we did in the same way year after year. They were as comforting to me as a steaming mug of cocoa.

With that seed in my mind, Ben and Jake’s story began to take form. As I got to know Jake’s family, I gave them some of my own traditions, some plucked from the Christmas traditions of friends, and some I’d like to try to add into our already crazy holidays.

One thing I did every Christmas when I was a child was make sugar cookies with my grandma. We used a recipe that my great aunt, Leola, had given my grandma when my mom was young. The recipe, written in my great aunt’s scrawly handwriting on a small card, is still in use in my house today. It is simply titled Good Cookies.  Some years we dye the dough red and green as I usually did with my grandma and some years we leave it plain, but we always enjoy selecting the cookie cutters we want to use and decorating the cookies with lots of sprinkles.

Great Aunt Leola’s Good Cookies

1 cup butter

1.5 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3.5 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Preheat over to 350F. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together then add to butter mixture and stir until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours. Then roll out dough, cut out cookies and bake until edges have a hint of brown, approximately 7 minutes. Cooking time will vary based on how thin you roll the dough.

One Kiss by Silvia Violet

Jake Sanders comes home for Christmas after a dreary semester filled with sleepless nights and a cheating boyfriend. Finding a new man is the last thing on his mind until he discovers that Ben Swinburne now owns the bakery where they both once worked.

Five years ago, Jake and Ben shared a single kiss, and Jake has never forgotten the way Ben’s lips felt against his. When Ben catches Jake under the mistletoe, passion ignites between them.

This time around, Ben wants more than one kiss, but Jake isn’t sure he’s ready for another relationship. Can Jake move past his pain and open his heart, or will he miss out on a second chance with the man of his dreams?

Excerpt