Even getting into this class means I’m among the best artists at my high school, chosen by the notoriously eccentric Alessandria French herself. She only accepts a dozen seniors or less every year, those whose potential ‘speaks to her senses.’
My parents were so impressed they stopped telling me about the starting salaries for accountants. For a few weeks.
–The Boy Next Door
Have you ever wondered how to make Christmas gayer? I haven’t, which is weird because I always think everything should be gayer. Fortunately, Norway took care of it.
Norway’s postal service does a holiday advertisement and this year’s is called When Harry Met Santa.
I am assuming most people who see my blog speak English, so this one has English subtitles. Combined with the original, this already has over two million views. Yes, it’s a love story involving Santa. It’s really sweet too!
So, I saw this earlier on Queerty and bookmarked it for later. I thought, ‘hey, I’m a gay romance author and I’m gay—bi if you wanna get technical about it—this will be on-topic and something fun for Christmastime. This will be fun!’
True story though, the commercial is a bit of a tear-jerker? I literally choked up and was not ready for all the feelings. (No spoilers, but don’t worry, there’s a happy ending.)
Full disclosure… when I actually watched, yes, I’d been offered limoncello and was a tad tipsy, so the video, which has nice production values and is almost a mini movie trailer, was a lot more emotional than I was expecting. Though I’d argue a little tipsy is the perfect way to watch this because then you’ll tear up and be invested in the ending and think, ‘OMG santa/this guy, it’s totally great, I hope they end up together!!!’
An actual queer Norwegian person said this about the video, “For many of us, Christmas is a time we spend with those we love, and it’s nice to see Norway Post show that love belongs to everyone, regardless of orientation, age, or whether you live at the North Pole.”
Happy holidays!
P.S. if you’ve never experienced limoncello before, try it! It will change your life. I rarely drink much lately, but I always say yes to limoncello.
The school doors open, light from outside hitting him just right and making his blue eyes sparkle. And his hair color, a rich chestnut brown, is new and makes my knees weak.
“Hey, Bell!” he greets, calling me by my last name as usual. I ignore the popular people at his side who sometimes clearly wonder why we interact. “What’s up?”
Dylan was always caring, sweet, good. The perfect guy for anybody. The right guy. Yet I suppose I never truly stopped to ask myself whether he was right for me.
From The Boy Next Door
One Little Word involves pretend boyfriends, secret fake relationships, regular fake relationships, and actual feelings. All of this refers to one couple. In One Little Lie, there are secret relationships and fake relationships. Luke is one of the parties involved in both scenarios, but there are three people and two different relationships. I’m not sure why, but when talking about pretend dating scenarios, I like making everything sound as complicated as possible.
In one sense, I suppose fake dating is complicated enough. But if you like fake dating stories, then you like the kind of extra drama that can only happen in romcoms.
If you haven’t read One Little Word, no worries. One, it’s included in a box set with One Little Lie. And two, Ryan will also get you up to speed:
It started when an idiot from the baseball team (Luke Chambers) got himself in trouble. There was foul language, high stakes, dire consequences, and then… things got weird. The idiot, being an idiot, decided the best way to get out of the mess he created involved pretending to date me.
Wait, Luke’s moroncy aside, the whole thing worked out great for me. The broken leg sucked, but I healed, and now I had an awesome hottie boyfriend.
Here’s a quote from Hunter Cruse, a main character from my YA M/M Kindle Vella novel, The Boy Next Door.
“Hey, losers,” says a voice from the side. Whoa, I was too busy agonizing about the new girlfriend to notice Hunter’s here, leaning against his car. “We can chat while we eat. Let’s go.”
“In a hurry?” Dylan teases.
The older brother looks around with contempt. “I’m done standing in the parking lot of my old high school wondering if maybe I just applied myself like all those teachers begged, I wouldn’t have ended up back here.”
“You can take Sam, right?” Dyl asks as he heads to his car hand-in-hand with Renee. No, no, no.
“Sure, we definitely need two cars for four people.” Hunter tosses me a dry look over his shoulder as he walks to the driver’s side, though it seems more at their expense than mine.
-The Boy Next Door
Despite a lack of fence or other divider line, it’s still obvious where our property ends and the Cruse yard begins. Our yard is sparse while the side closest to us on the Cruse property has a pond and archway that leads back into a vibrant garden. Flowers bursting with color perfume the air with an intoxicating aroma as I walk into the backyard.
Mrs. French might call their garden an artist’s dream, a place to stimulate the senses and inspire creativity. Even in the fall, their garden flourishes, and some flowers are always blooming until the first frost.
Plus, their pond kicks ass.
-from young adult romance novel The Boy Next Door
Completing a box set for the One More Thing Series has been on my to-do list for a long time. Finally, I can cross it off. Check out this four book bundle for the first four books in the series.
A straight jock thought it was all pretend… until he started to fall for the gay school nerd. Will romance be his best play yet?
Seventeen-year-old Luke Chambers has what every small-town boy desires: a car, varsity jacket, and phone numbers from all the pretty girls. But when a stupid mistake and zero-tolerance teacher could cost the popular pitcher everything, his only hope of redemption involves playing pretend with the school’s biggest loser.
Ryan Miller is sick of being bullied for his sexuality. And his town’s most-admired athlete represents almost everything the smart-mouthed geek hates. So when the guy proposes a fake relationship, he’s not sure cuddling up to a gorgeous straight boy will amount to anything except a huge disaster.
When sparks fly, Luke struggles with confusing feelings even as the sarcastic scientist tries to openly humiliate him. But as Ryan starts to fall for the softer, authentic side of the baseball player, he can’t decipher what’s real and what’s make-believe when their public displays of affection hit far too close to home…
One Little Word starts the One More Thing series when a clueless athlete and witty nerd go from enemies to fake boyfriends and begin an adventure that may change their lives forever.
Get One Little Word and 3 other fantastic books in the One Crazy Love Story Bundle!
Writing this is interesting. I LOVE Lock & West by Alexander C. Eberhart. It’s beautiful and powerful, a really great book. Except when reading it, I had very little thoughts. I always have comments whether I love a book or not but it’s especially weird not to have a bunch of opinions about a book I really enjoyed. So we’ll see how this goes.
(Whenever I type Lock’s name, I want to write ‘Locke’ instead. We could say I’m intellectual and thinking of English philosopher John Locke… nah, I’m actually thinking about John Locke the character from Lost.)
Also, I have Kindle Unlimited so I typically borrow books, but I’m going to buy Lock & West. Because it’s fantastic!
Quick Summary: Two guys with different personalities from different backgrounds meet each other and form a connection while facing difficult years at home. Though as they grow closer, they learn home might not be a place. It’s a person. (which is the tagline and used very well in the novel!)
The Story
Lock is put into an awkward position. Lots of things are awkward for him. He’s the nervous type and prone to anxiety. Social interaction isn’t his strong suit, and he lives more in his head than the real word. Very relatable. But life is even more awkward as a new student at high school. He moved from Seattle to Atlanta.
One of the new people he meets is West, who he agrees to tutor in math. They initially get along well enough, and West really likes Lock’s younger brother. They might even be crushing on each other. Though Lock isn’t out or even at the point where he admits his sexuality to himself.
West is an outgoing, funny theater kid who even convinces Lock to attend a party with him. Which is when things get interesting because those crazy kids get drunk and hook up. And that’s only the beginning of the drama.
Between sorting out their feelings for each other, and Lock figuring out his sexuality, each guy also has their share of personal struggles. Lock’s mom is an alcoholic, his father is dead, and there are many secrets in his family history he doesn’t yet know. West has issues with his weight and his sister’s douchey fiancé.
I’m trying not to be too specific about all this, but there’s a lot of twists and obstacles that crop up. Right when you get used to the story, something changes and new complications and layers are added, which is done in the best ways and is a joy to read.
The Relationship
There are moments when the personal issues blend with what’s happening between the guys and other parts where their stories verge off. Sometimes their feelings make things complicated while other times being together provides the only moment of peace in their otherwise hectic lives. They aren’t immediately a couple, and the relationship builds as the novel continues. Like everything else, it’s very emotional and well done and I enjoyed the hell out of these two separately and as a couple.
Only small issue is there are a few parts where their journeys were too separate. And while each storyline is captivating, I still wanted them to come back together for a few scenes. However, this is less something that actually bugged me and more a critique because I always try to find at least one downside to a novel so that I don’t sound like a paid infomercial or something.
Writing Style
Lock writes notes to himself with advice for being a human being while West makes lists. Each are in different handwriting and show up at the start of every chapter, so we see them a lot. This fun little detail makes the book more personalized.
Many chapters are bite-size, though never too brief. From my rambling nature to the way I try to fit as many words into a sentence as possible, these short and sweet chapters are a radical concept for me. However, I really enjoy them. It keeps the novel moving and each section stops at just the right point so you wanna keep reading.
From the Novel
Okay, the way the author describes anything? Amazing. Love how ordinary sentences are packed with so much meaning. You’re just reading the page, chugging along, and then boom, feelings. Several lines sneak up on your with their loveliness. Beautiful writing, just gorgeous from start to finish.
Tags & Warnings (Spoilers!) :
developing relationships, friends to lovers, theater, family, mental health issues, biracial character, mixed raced relationship, eating disorder, abuse, illness, rape, suicide.
I’m going to end with a funny quote from Lock & West:
There are two ebook giveaways for October, so check them out. These free books are all queer and available throughout the month. While not exactly Halloween themed, one does have a dancing skeleton, which is fun.
Gay Paranormal Romance 