#RainbowSnippets

This week I joined the Rainbow Snippets group on Facebook. According to their description, “it’s a group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week to share six sentences from a work of fiction—a WIP or a finished work of even 6-sentence book recommendation (no spoilers please!).”

Sounds like a fun way to discover new books and authors!

My snippet is from my short story Unconditionally, that will be published on March 4. And I cheated with 8 sentences; I must make a terrible first impression 🙂

I hope you’ll like it.

Luca stood wide-eyed and frozen and stared at the door his mother had slammed when storming out of the hotel room. Her hateful words echoed in his mind. The ache in his chest made it hard to breathe, and he struggled to fill his lungs with air.

“Fuck,” he mumbled and clenched his hands into fists. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. The day he was going to marry the man of his dreams and finally get to call Gus his husband. But right now, all he could think about was the words his mother had spit out when she’d opened the door and seen him.

Freak.

Blurb

Flamboyant book café owner Luca Moretti and geeky doctor Gus Hanson have been together for six years when the Supreme Court ruling makes same-sex marriage legal in all states. On June 26^th 2015, Gus gets down on one knee and Luca screams yes.

On their wedding day, shortly before the ceremony, Luca’s mother explodes in anger, calling him a freak. The reason? He’s wearing a white veil, sprinkled with crystals.

Their relationship has been strained for a long time and her words triggers traumatic memories. Instead of walking down the aisle he runs. Away from his mother. Away from Gus.

Gus counts down the minutes, when Luca’s mother comes knocking. He realizes something’s wrong, but when he goes to talk to Luca, his husband-to-be is nowhere to be found.

Will Gus find Luca in time for the wedding and manage to convince him to come back and get married?

I’d love it if you come and hang out with me on Facebook or Twitter. And you’re very welcome back to the blog tomorrow, when I will reveal the cover for Unconditionally.

Book review

I wrote in my summary of the best books I read 2016 that I’d review some of them here on the blog eventually. Here’s the first: 

Cultivating Love by Addison Albright

This is a story about an established couple, and usually I don’t read those kind of books. I prefer reading about people getting to know each other and falling in love. Another reason I try to steer clear of established couples, is because authors tend to be mean, mean people, who think up lots of drama for the poor unsuspecting couple, and I prefer my HEAs to be of the forever, totally unbelievable, kind. You know, where the guys ride off into the sunset, holding hands, professing their undying love, and never ever break up or argue.

So this was a different read for me, but good different. Don’t get me wrong, there was drama, but it came from outside sources, and I’ll even go so far as to say it was beneficial for the guys as a couple.

The relationship between Ed and Joe starts out being solid, but not very romantic. They don’t cuddle, or hold hands, and they have very specific rules for sexy-times. So while they’re both in it for the long haul, the other doesn’t necessarily know it.

But when something happens that changes their lives and their relationship, it pushes them both to takes risks in their relationship. To dare to ask for more and to give more. To want more, not just sex, but intimacy and closeness.

Addison Albright has done a phenomenal job of showing the progression in their relationship. They take small, careful steps and they worry about what the other person is going to think, but I love that they both put themselves out there. I love seeing them taking a chance on each other, even if they aren’t always using so many words doing it.

It works wonderfully with the characters Albright has created. They are two ordinary guys, trying to find their way in life. They’re not super ripped, alpha males showing their love in grand, bombastic gestures, but that doesn’t make the story any less romantic. It might not be not flowers and chocolate and loud declarations, but instead they express their love in a way that’s deeply meaningful for the characters, something I find incredibly romantic.

I’ve read several of Albright’s novels, and one of my favorite things is how well she writes quiet, intimate moments between characters. Moments that fill me with warm, fuzzy feelings and makes me sigh happily. This book is full of them and I simply adore it.

The only thing negative thing I have to say about it, is that I don’t like the cover very much. I mean: why is the N in “Cultivating” so large compared to the other letters? It’s weird. Unfortunately, it put me off reading this book for the longest time, which is too bad because it’s a wonderful story.

I give Cultivating Love my warmest recommendations. Just skip the cover and immerse yourself in a quick, heartwarming read. You won’t regret it.

5 feel-good stars.

Day 27 #30DayWritingChallenge

Conversely, write about something that’s kicking ass right now

Hmmm, I’ve stared at this prompt for the longest time, trying to understand it. Is it good kicking ass, or bad? I even googled the challenge to see if I could decipher it by looking at what others had written, and I wasn’t the only one who was confused. Then I decided it doesn’t matter. It’s not like this challenge is life or death so just write what the heck you want, Nell! 

So, here it goes.

I kick ass. I’m amazing, because I’ve written a lot of words on my WIP, finally started editing/rewriting The Locked Room, and I’ve edited and worked towards the release of Unconditionally. That’s a lot of writer work for someone who had a crappy start to the year, writer wise. 

And this year I will be a published author. How amazing is that?