Love and Snowball Fights by J.R. Loveless
Dreamspinner Press
Cover art by
Available for Purchase at
Of Christmas, Cookies and Love and Snowball Fights by J.R. Loveless
Does anyone else feel the anticipation in the air as Christmas creeps closer? Is your shopping done or do you still have those last minute gifts to get like I do? As I write this post, a few days before it is actually due to go up, I’ve just spent hours running around and I am exhausted yet there’s still more to be done! It doesn’t feel as though I will ever be finished! Christmas is only days away and I have cookies and goodie baskets to make too!
If you’ve been following my promotional blog posts, you’ll know today is my release day for Love and Snowball Fights, but also that I have been sharing with you recipes that my mother and I make every year as a part of the tradition for the gift baskets we hand out each year. This post is no different, of course! One of the treats every person relates to the holidays is peppermint candy canes. They’re typically placed on the tree as a decoration, later to be enjoyed by the little ones or even adults alike! Peppermint Holiday Cookies are easy to make while being a wonderful treat to make the holidays even sweeter. We’ve been making these to add to the treat baskets for several years now and everyone agrees they were a great addition to the list.
Peppermint Holiday Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup Butter, softened
¾ cup granulated white sugar
1 large egg, beaten
3 cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup crushes peppermint candy canes
¾ cup confectiors’ sugar
5 teaspoons warm water
2 tablespoons crushed peppermint candy canes
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Beat butter and granulate sugar in electric mixer until smooth.
- Beat egg into mixture until completely mixed. Mix in flour and salt until mixed.
- Fold in crushed candy canes into the mix, until just combined, don’t over mix.
- Roll dough into balls 1 tablespoon at a time, arrange on a baking sheet.
- Bake in preheated oven until firm, about 8 to 10 minutes. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for about a minute before you move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- In a small bowl, whisk confectioners’ sugar and warm water together until smooth. Dip each cookie into the icing. Then top with additional crushed candy cane. Set aside to let it dry for at least five minutes.
These would be fun to make with your children and family! Even perhaps make it a tradition to have around for Christmas! I know we love them here in our household. They also make a great gift to give at this time of year or to bring to any holiday parties you may attend. A great way to use up any leftover candy canes after the tree comes down too!
I decided to go with a different excerpt this time, something a little sweeter to go with the recipe above and to entice your taste buds for the story. Lane has never experienced a snowball fight before so when Trey draws him into his first one, he doesn’t quite know what to do when he ends up tagging Trey in the forehead. It leads to Trey retaliating in a way Lane doesn’t expect. Read on to find out what happens!
Blurb
Lane Freeman supposed there were worse places to be dumped than a place named Christmas Valley. After being ejected from the foster care system, he spent the past five years hitchhiking and moving around. But six months of a steady job at Tal’s Bar and Grill, an apartment, and even a three-legged cat, have him almost ready to risk putting down a few roots when Tal’s brother comes home for the holidays.
Dallas firefighter Trey Jenkins reluctantly accepts that Lane isn’t like the other drifters who’ve come through his brother’s place. A fragile attraction begins to bloom between them, in spite of the many reasons they both have to fight it. Trey wants to give Lane a family, but experience has taught Lane to depend on no one but himself. Will winter love burn hot in a town called Christmas Valley, or will Lane return to his wandering ways?
Excerpt
Trey’s ankle felt much better that morning, if his desire to dig out the front sidewalk of his parents’ home was any indication. Lane warred with the urge to help and the side of himself demanding he remain as far away from Trey as possible. The kindness in him won out, and after he’d dressed in a pair of jeans two sizes too big for him, held up by a borrowed belt, and the long-sleeved shirt he wore the day they left his apartment, which Mrs. Jenkins had somehow washed without him knowing, he put on his boots and grabbed his hoodie and jacket.
When Trey came downstairs, he frowned at Lane. “You should stay inside where it’s warm.”
Lane ignored the bite of rejection and shook his head. “I want to help.”
Trey studied him for a long moment and then sighed. “Let’s at least see if Ma has an extra pair of gloves somewhere.”
Minutes later Lane had a snow shovel in his hand and was working beside Trey to clear out the walkway to the street and the driveway. They wouldn’t be able to drive until the snowplows came through, but this way it was already done. He saw others in the neighborhood doing the same thing, and the mindless activity soothed him as he dumped each shovelful away from the walk. Several times he bumped into Trey but merely apologized and continued to work. When they reached the end of the pathway, the muscles in Lane’s arms quivered and he couldn’t help his heavy breathing. Trey, of course, was barely winded. Lane made a face but started digging toward the cars.
“You can go inside and rest now if you want to. I can finish this up,” Trey said.
Lane shook his head. “I’m fine.”
He thought he heard Trey whisper, “Stubborn,” but ignored the comment and kept digging. The crunch of the snow giving way to the shovel gave him a deep sense of satisfaction.
It wasn’t more than a couple of feet into the mountain of snow between the walk and the driveway that he felt something hit his back. Lane jerked up and turned to stare wide-eyed at Trey, who smirked at him and casually tossed another snowball in the air, waiting to see what Lane would do.
“I can’t believe you just did that!” Lane exclaimed. He scooped up a handful of snow and threw it at Trey. Some of it hit his chest, but it scattered as it flew through the air, making little to no impact. Trey raised an eyebrow, but instead of saying anything, he lobbed the one he held at Lane. Lane attempted to sidestep, but it grazed his arm.
The gloves were off and they started lobbing snow at one another. Trey had the clear advantage, having had many snowball fights in his life. Lane guessed Trey was going easy on him, though. He couldn’t stop laughing, ducking behind mounds of snow to avoid whatever Trey threw his way. The longer they played, the more confident Lane became. He crafted each ball quick and sure, compressing it tighter as their fun continued, but it was the final snowball that hit Trey square in the face that ended their game.
Lane gasped in horror and rushed out from behind the barricade as Trey fell backward into a mound of white. “Trey!”
Lane almost slipped as he skidded to a stop next to where Trey lay. Trey’s eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving.
Lane dropped to his knees next to Trey. “Oh, my god, Trey. I’m sorry! Please be okay!” He leaned over and started brushing the snow from Trey’s face, wincing at how red Trey’s nose and forehead looked. “Trey,” Lane pleaded and shook Trey gently.
Suddenly Trey reached up and grabbed Lane around the waist, twisting them until Lane lay beneath him. Lane gave a sound of protest, but it was cut off when Trey held a snowball he hadn’t noticed before over him. “That wasn’t very nice,” Trey husked.
“I-I’m sorry,” Lane stuttered, very aware of Trey’s hard body on top of his. “I didn’t mean to. Are you okay?”
Trey’s eyes crinkled at the corner and one side of his mouth came up in a half smile. “All’s fair in love and snowball fights, Lane.”
He dangled the snowball closer to Lane’s face. “You wouldn’t,” Lane protested, ignoring the comment about love.
Chuckling, Trey shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. I’ll make you a deal.”
Lane swallowed. “What is it?”
“Go back inside and rest while I finish clearing the driveway or….” Trey lowered the snowball a bit more.
For a half a second Lane considered it and then said, “No.”
Trey clucked his tongue a couple of times. “You really are a glutton for punishment.”
Lane glared up at him. “I’m not going to sit around and do nothing while you’re out here with an injured ankle.”
He saw a slight hesitance in Trey’s posturing, but it disappeared rapidly. Trey kept his word, but he didn’t shove it in Lane’s face as Lane expected, squeezing his eyes shut in preparation. Oh no. Trey chose to stuff it down the front of Lane’s shirt. Lane gasped at the icy chill, eyes flying open to stare in shock at Trey, who had a wide grin on his face. He remained still for several seconds, absorbing what Trey had done and feeling the ice melt against his skin, sliding down his chest.
Instead of getting mad, Lane chose to get even. He grabbed as much snow as he could from beside him and shoved it up the back of Trey’s leather jacket and under his shirt. Trey let out an exclamation of shock and sat up to fluff out his clothes in order to dislodge the ice. Seeing his chance, Lane squirmed out from under Trey and stood. He went to move around Trey but wasn’t fast enough. Trey tumbled him down in the snow once more. Lane let out an “oomph” as he hit the hard white surface.
“The last person who did something like that didn’t survive,” Trey growled, eyes twinkling to show Lane he wasn’t serious. Their faces were even closer to one another than before, and Lane noticed a small white scar at the corner of Trey’s mouth and the dark flecks of brown hidden in the steel of Trey’s irises.
“It was only fair,” Lane wheezed.
Trey grunted. “Maybe so, but I can’t let that trespass go.”
Lane wriggled under Trey, attempting to get free once more. His movements caused Trey’s eyes to darken to that liquid silver, and he halted, not really knowing what to do. He was tired of fighting it, but at the same time, knew he should hold strong against the only thing that lay in Trey’s direction: pain.
“Lane?” Trey queried.
“Y-yeah?”
“Can I kiss you?”
About the Author
J.R. Loveless is an avid fan, reader and writer of anything pertaining to male/male romance. She started out her adventure into the genre in 2004 when she discovered the anime Loveless, a softer side of Yaoi. The moment she saw Loveless, it sucked her in and hasn’t let go since.
After Loveless, she voraciously searched for anything she could find within the anime world pertaining to Yaoi and Shounen-Ai. She found Gravitation, Princess Princess, Gakuen Heaven, Junjou Romantica and so much more. As she searched for the different animes available, she stumbled across an amazing forum that to this day she is more than ever thankful she found.
J.R. currently has several works in progress and several more ideas on the slow cooker. Ideas come to her out of the blue, a lyric in a song, a line in a movie, or just out of nowhere while she’s standing in the shower. She loves to make up her own stories, to follow her heart, and to write things her way because she loves a happy ending.
She is always thankful for all of her followers on AarinFantasy and for all of the wonderful people who read her stories. Please feel free to send her an email or to drop her a note on Facebook. She will always try to respond, even if it isn’t right away.
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