Holidays at Nell’s: Day 31

Finally, it’s here. The day we’ve all been waiting for: the last day of 2020. I could go on and on about all the crappy things that’s made this year so awful, but I want to finish the year on a positive note, so I won’t. Besides, 2020 was the year I became a grandmother to the most adorable little baby, so there’s no way I can be sad and upset. ❤️

Instead, let’s get to today’s recommendation. Which, you’ve probably guessed, is my brand spanking new NYE story, Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday.

Click for blurb

Two strangers, a twisted ankle, an ancient stone ship, and a New Year’s Eve they’ll never forget

Petter sneaks out of the New Year’s party he didn’t want to go to and treks to an old burial site he’s dying to see. Alone. Without telling anyone on a freezing December night. Without cell service…a huge problem when he twists his ankle.

Someone passes by Isak’s house on the path leading to the stone ship. When the person never returns, Isak worries and sets off to investigate. What he finds is Petter, a pack of sparklers, and an instant connection.

Under a starry sky, they learn they have a lot in common. Will the attraction burn hot and fizzle out like the fireworks going off over their heads when they return to the real world? Or will it deepen, grow, and turn into something real? Something everlasting like the stone ship?

Bubbly and sparklers by the stone ship. Sounds like the perfect New Year’s celebration to me.

Quote from Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday

If you want to read about two guys who meet by an ancient stone monument on New Year’s Eve because one guy twisted his ankle and the other came to his rescue. If you want sparklers, bad tasting bubbly, and new year’s resolutions, both serious and not. If you want honest and intimate conversations about life, universe, and everything. And if you want to read about two guys with an instant connection and lots of delicious kisses, this is the story for you.

“I would’ve spent the night on the couch, watching crappy television, probably falling asleep a long time ago, if I hadn’t set out on the heroic quest to rescue you.”

That makes me smile. “Heroic quest, huh?”

“Definitely.”

“I don’t know. Don’t knights in shining armor usually ride to the rescue on a white horse?”

“You tell me. You’re the history nerd.”

Quote from Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday

Buy links

JMS Books | Universal buy link

And since I’m Swedish and it’s New Year’s Eve, I leave you with a Abba wishing you a happy new year! 🎉🍾🎆🎇

Happy New Year by Abba

Out now: Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday

Today is the release day for my New Year’s Eve story, Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday. Happy release day to me! 🎉🍾🥂

Two strangers, a twisted ankle, an ancient stone ship, and a New Year’s Eve they’ll never forget

Petter sneaks out of the New Year’s party he didn’t want to go to and treks to an old burial site he’s dying to see. Alone. Without telling anyone on a freezing December night. Without cell service…a huge problem when he twists his ankle.

Someone passes by Isak’s house on the path leading to the stone ship. When the person never returns, Isak worries and sets off to investigate. What he finds is Petter, a pack of sparklers, and an instant connection.

Under a starry sky, they learn they have a lot in common. Will the attraction burn hot and fizzle out like the fireworks going off over their heads when they return to the real world? Or will it deepen, grow, and turn into something real? Something everlasting like the stone ship?

M/M Contemporary / 20851 words

Buy links:

JMS Books | Universal buy link

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Usually, my stories are set in a vague, undisclosed place because the location isn’t important for me. But Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday is different: it’s set in a real place in Sweden, Ale’s Stones, an ancient stone ship erected about 1400 years ago. Me and my husband visited this place in July (I wrote about it here) and I was in awe. I love history, so visiting that monument was fantastic.

I took some liberties with the place: not the stones themselves and the ocean below, but the village at the foot of the hill where the stones are located, so if you’ve been there and are thinking What the heck is this? you know the reason. 🙂

Anyway. To celebrate the release of the book that I wrote after my visit there, I thought you might like to see some pictures from my trip?

A glimpse of the village at the foot of the hill. The real one, not the tweaked one from my story.

The dirt path leading up to the stones, the one Petter planned on crawling down on New Year’s Eve since he sprained his ankle and couldn’t walk and support his weight.

Isak is strong and hauls me to my feet without any trouble. “Wow, that was easier than I thought,” he says. “You don’t weigh much.”

“No.” I’ve always been small, short, and lean—verging on skinny—with eyes too big for my face and pale skin. I’m also swishy and emotional and impulsive, which is why people are still treating me like a kid, I guess.

“That’s all right. That’ll make this whole thing a lot easier than if you’d been the big bodybuilder type. It was easy enough to think you were under that huge jacket. I would have had to go get one of the cows to help carry you down if that had been the case.”

The thought of being slung across the back of a cow and carried down the steep hill is ridiculous and makes me giggle again. I’m usually more self-conscious about my giggle and try to remember to chuckle like a manly-man would—yeah, right—but for some reason, I don’t care around Isak. “You have cows?”

“No, but my neighbor, old Mr. Berglund, does.”

Quote from Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday

Maybe these cows are old Mr. Berglund’s? 😀

The actual stones

The ocean next to the stones

And finally, Nell in front of the stones 😁

The story about the stones, written on the site itself.

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If we’re ever allowed to travel again and you’re passing by the south of Sweden, I warmly recommend a visit to Ale’s Stones. Until then, you can experience it through Petter and Isak’s eyes in Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday.

I hope you’ll enjoy it. 🙂

Holidays at Nell’s: Day 30

We’re nearing the end of the month and the year, and today I thought I’d talk about five old favorites that I’ve been gushing about here on the blog previous years, that are definitely worth a re-read if you’ve already read them. Or if you haven’t, what are you waiting for?? 🙂

Day 30 of Holidays at Nell’s: five old favorite reads

First of all I have to say that my favorites are a diverse bunch. Christmas is of course represented (The Mistletoe Kiss and Hope is the Thing with Feathers), but we also have Shab-e Yalda (Watermelon Kisses), Saturnalia (Revelry), and Hanukkah (The Remaking of Corbin Wale).

I really love all these books which is why I want to highlight again them even though I’ve recommended them already on the blog. So here it goes:

Watermelon Kisses (click the title if you want to read what I’ve previously written about the book) – if you want to read a story about an established couple where one of the MCs fled Iran to be with his now husband, and is carrying the trauma still in his heart. If you want a story full of emotion that will touch your very soul, if you want beautiful writing, and if you want to read a holiday story full of something different than gingerbread and Santa’s.

Esmail kissed Amir’s forehead and sighed. They leaned against each other, beard against beard, heart against heart.

Quote from Watermelon Kisses

The Mistletoe Kiss (here and here) – if you want to read a historical hurt/comfort book about a slow tender romance. If you want a perfectly imperfect hero like Mr. Fenton, who stands up for whats right, and a character like Christie who’s positive and happy and creative, and brings life and joy to his beloved Mr. Fenton’s, Lawrence’s, life.

He waited for him to resist, to pull away, demand to know what his game was…but he melted into him, buried his face in Lawrence’s neck, and let out a shuddering sigh that pierced Lawrence’s parched, lonely heart.

Quote from The Mistletoe Kiss

Hope is the Thing with Feathers – if you want two older guys in your holiday romance story (56 and 67) who’ll show you that some men get even better with age. If you want to read about a favorite turkey, and the Christmas present of dreams, Samuel’s dreams.

Too much. Too much information. Too much weirdness. Too much penis. God, penis. It had been so long. “You’re still naked.”

Quote from Hope is the Thing with Feathers

Revelry – if you want an obscure Roman holiday and a glittery sequined Dolphin Princess. If you want a nerdy professor and an adorable bartender. And if you want to read a book from a fabulous writer who has a magical way with words.

This was himself making Brian happy as well, he understood; and that understanding snagged his next breath and stole it away, like the shooting star returning, like a lifeline flung out that’d unexpectedly caught the sun.

Quote from Revelry

The Remaking of Corbin Wale – if you want something to take your breath away with its brilliance and pure magic.

Panic gripped Alex as he stared at the empty space and his own outstretched hands. He didn’t know what he’d done, but it had ripped Corbin from him, turning intimacy to distance, and pleasure to fear. He’d reached for something gossamer, and he’d shredded it with rough hands. The most beautiful kiss he’d ever shared had turned to dust in his mouth.

Quote from The Remaking of Corbin Wale

Buy links

Watermelon Kisses | The Mistletoe Kiss | Hope is the Thing with Feathers | Revelry | The Remaking of Corbin Wale

Meet Cute Chronicles: They Met in the Library

Did you visit my friend Holly Day’s blog and check out the cover reveal I did for my upcoming story They Met in the Library? I hope you did; she’s a new writer and needs support and love!

If not, now’s the time to reveal it here on my own blog. It’s also available for preorder (not everywhere, but in a few shops. Amazon always takes a bit longer, so be patient if that’s your preferred store) so if you want something lighthearted and flirty and funny to read in January, I suggest you pre-order it! 🙂

Now, let’s look at the delightful cover. Isn’t it pretty?? 😍

Adrian, book-lover extraordinaire, adores his job at the small community library. He gets to share his passion with other people and help them with all book-related questions and issues. When a big, hulking man walks into the library, looking terrified, Adrian’s skills are tested in a completely different way.

Manne’s relationship with books is uneasy, to say the least. He’s dyslexic and events in his past have made him fearful of books and turned libraries into his worst nightmare. But when the quirky, bowtie-wearing librarian steps in to help, the experience turns positive.

Their banter is easy and their chemistry instant. But can an accidental meeting turn into something more? Can someone who has trouble reading ever fit into the life of a man whose passion is the written word?

M/M Contemporary / 17943 words

Release day: January 16, 2021

Pre-order links:

JMS Books (20% off pre-orders)| Universal Buy Link

Holidays at Nell’s: Day 29

Today’s holiday story celebrates the Lunar New Year, the biggest holiday in the Chinese calendar. The Lunar New Year isn’t until February 2021, but it’s still a wintery holiday so I’m including it. And it’s my blog and I do what I want to, to paraphrase Lesley Gore 😀

Day 29 of Holidays at Nell’s: Red Envelope by Atom Yang

Click for blurb

The Lunar New Year is the biggest holiday in the Chinese calendar, a time for family reunions, and for saying goodbye to the past and hello to the future. Clint, however, doesn’t want to bid farewell to what happened after last year’s celebration, when he and his Cousin Maggie’s handsome friend, Weaver, shared an unexpected but long-desired passionate encounter. East is East, and West is West, and Weaver seems to want to keep it that way, but maybe Clint can bridge that great divide this coming New Year and show Weaver what it means to be loved and accepted.

Re-reading this book (I read it for the first time back in 2016) made me miss Malaysia. Malaysia has a huge Chinese population, especially in Kuala Lumpur where I lived, and the Lunar New Year is a really big deal there. I loved watching the lion dance, I loved the tossing of the noodles, all the red envelopes, and the atmosphere in general. So in a way, reading this book was like coming home…and not.

Anyway. Enough about me, this is supposed to be book recommendations, not me being maudlin about not really knowing where my home is at the moment 🙂 Red Envelope is a short slice of life in the characters’ lives on the Lunar New Year, with a quick flashback to events previous year. Clint and Weaver are an interracial couple where Clint is Chinese and Weaver is American, and they’re both very likable. All the characters are, but maybe I love Clint’s mother the most, though. Is that wrong of me, considering it’s a romance story? 😀

I learned to cook from my mother, who believed that measurement in cooking what based on experience plus taste buds, not agreed upon standards.

Quote from Red Envelope

Yes, Clint’s mother! I totally agree!!

It’s a cute and humorous story. And if you’re in a holiday mood but have maybe overdosed a bit on Christmas and want something different, this is the perfect book for you.

I swear you’re going to be more Chinese than me. My mother’s going to adopt you and sell me into the foot massage industry.

Quote from Red Envelope

Foot massage industry? That’s weirdly specific 😀

Buy link