They Met in the Library: guest posts and #giveaway

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you’re having a great day! I’ve had a good day: we’re house hunting and we went on a road trip and checked out a house. It was lovely, maybe a bit small for our needs, and since it’s very original and charming, I’m sure it’ll turn into a bidding war and it’ll end up way over our budget. We shall see!

Aside from that little roadtrip on snowy roads, I’m also a guest over at my friend Holly Day’s blog today where I talk about how I had the idea for my new release They Met in the Library for the longest time but couldn’t get it to work. Check it out here, if you’re interested. I was also blog hopping a bit yesterday: first I visited Addison Albright’s blog where I wrote about how I was a book worm when I was a kid, and a regular at my neigborhood library, the one I based Adrian’s library on. Here’s the link for that post. I was also at Ofelia Gränd’s blog, writing about the meet-cute trope. Check it out here.

You haven’t missed that the second book in my Meet Cute Chronicles is up for pre-order, I hope? They Met in the Park will be released on February 27, but you can pre-order it now if you’re a eager 🙂 As always, JMS Books offer 20% off pre-orders and new releases!

They Met in the Park pre-order link @ JMS Books

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Finally, I just want to make sure you haven’t missed the giveaway. I’m giving away two signed paperback copies of my anthology Finding The One, and I’ll send it anywhere in the world. There are two days left of the giveaway, so hurry up before it’s too late. Also, please send cyber kisses to my dear friend Addison Albright who helped me set up the giveaway. Ours would be a sad, miserable world without kind and generous friends, don’t you agree? ❤️

GIVEAWAY LINK

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

Buy links:

JMS BOOKS (20% off until 1/22) | UNIVERSAL BUY LINK

Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day

Today, January 17, is apparently Ditch New Year’s Resolution Day. Hands up if you knew it existed! I didn’t 🙂 More than 80% of the people making vows to better themselves admit to breaking them, and January 17 is the day most give up. So how do we celebrate this day? Well, if you promised something you’re regretting, today’s the day to break it, guilt free.

So tell me, will you take the out? 🙂

Two (fictional) people who won’t be breaking their resolutions are Petter and Isak from Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday. Read it (if you haven’t already) and you’ll understand why 🙂

Resolutions for an Arbitrary Holiday is sweet and romantic. Nell Iris adds plenty of atmosphere to the read, making everything a little more special. This tale covers one night and includes all the feels. It’s the perfect little romance. 

Amy’s (Mostly) MM Romance Reviews

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

Excerpt

“Awesome. Are you the kind of person who makes resolutions?”

“Usually not.” I accept the lit sparkler he holds out to me. I’ve loved these things since I was a little kid, even more than fireworks, and up here, in the howling wind with a sky full of stars above my head, in the company of a kind stranger and huge ancient stones, they’re more beautiful than ever.

“But this year is different?”

“Yeah. I’m doing some…significant changes in my life this coming year, so I thought ‘why not?’ It can’t hurt, right? Even if I agree with you about the arbitrariness of this so-called holiday.”

“You do?”

“Sure. It’s not a thing we celebrate because of some natural phenomenon, like the solstice. It’s just to mark that the Earth has done another lap around the sun. I mean, that’s great and all, but why do we need to celebrate it?”

Isak’s face lights up in a wide grin. “Yes! This is what I always say when people complain because I refuse to embrace the spirit of the holiday.”

I return his smile. “Exactly!”

“I’ll drink to that. Finding a like-minded person makes it worth subjecting myself to this awfulness.” He takes another swig, face contorting, and then hands over the bottle to me.

“Are you trying to poison me?” I take the tiniest of drinks, barely enough to wet my mouth.

“Hey! You’re the one who brought it.”

“And I regret it deeply.”

The sparklers have gone out, and Isak lights a couple new ones, handing me one. “So tell me about your resolution.”

“You’ll think it’s stupid.” I avert my gaze, looking out over the ocean. Far away a tiny pinprick of light moves across the water. Who’s out in a boat now?

“I won’t. Promise.”

I follow the little prick of light as it moves away, and it’s easier to talk about it when I’m not looking at him. “I’m going to be more true to who I really am.”

Gently, he replaces the burned-out sparkler in my hand with a new one. “Why would I think that’s stupid?”

“Because people do. I’m almost thirty, I’m supposed to have reached that stage already in my life.”

“People assume a lot of shit, don’t they?”

I take my eyes off the boat and allow myself to be mesmerized by the sparkler, by the tiny stars shooting out of it in every direction, by the crackling sound and its energy. It burns hot and fast, but it gives its all doing it. “Yeah,” I say.

“I’ll drink to your resolution. I’m sure it doesn’t mean much to you because we don’t know each other, but I think you’re doing the right thing. Now drink.” When the sparkler sputters and dies out, I look at Isak. “It does mean something. Thank you”.