M/M Contemporary romance novella – Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Robbie MacIntyre manages a small post office in the old Station House on the outskirts of sleepy Barton Hartshourn northwest of London. He’s stunned when the owner, Maggie, a close friend, bequeaths him not only the post office, but also Station House.

The rest of her estate is left to an American writer, Jason Young, and when he moves to the village, Robbie is thrown by the attraction he has for the man who has more of a claim on the Station House than he does.

Then there is a box that holds several rare first editions and a cookbook. Only when the secrets of the ingredients in a particular recipe are finally revealed does everything begin to make sense, and a love cut short seventy years earlier is finally discovered.

The first book in the new series, Tales of the Curious Cookbook, this story takes place in England where Robbie MacIntyre manages a small post office-slash-bookstore-slash-coffee-shop-slash-art gallery in the old Station House owned by his good friend Maggie Simmons. He’s been doing this work for about ten years—ever since Maggie offered him the position to help ground him when he was at loose ends after he graduated with a degree in art. He’s devastated when Maggie passes away and even more shocked when he finds out that she’s left the Station House to him.

But more intriguing is the fact that she left her home, Apple Tree Cottage, to an American. Jason Young is the great grandson of Maggie’s sister who immigrated to America after the war. He’s a writer who happens to be gorgeous and in need of help when the water tank at the cottage rusts out and floods the place. Robbie offers him a place to stay and a shoulder to lean on, and the two become friends.

While the cottage is being worked on, they retrieve a box holding several rare first editions of one of Robbie’s favorite mystery writers and an old handwritten cookbook, Recipes for the Heart: Mystical Meals and Dangerous Desserts, by Granny B. The book is organized by sections and marked by emotions. For example, there are recipes for foods that are for sadness, or finding what was lost, or inspiring passion. The one Robbie most likes is for applesauce cake because it was Maggie’s favorite, and he hasn’t been able to match it exactly even though she had given him the recipe. This cake is for finding love. The mystery in this story is what happens when the guys stumble upon information about Maggie’s past which includes a lost love and a separation from her sister and her family. There’s humor and heartache, romance, and adventure to be found. And when the new recipe for applesauce cake, aka the recipe for love, is followed, the boys finally find their way to their HEA.

This is a sweet short story, perfect as the kickoff for the new series. RJ Scott’s style is very evident throughout the story up to and including the building of a wonderfully matched pair of MCs. I recommend this to all who enjoy a bit of a history mystery and a little whimsy with their M/M romance.

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Cover Art by Reese Dante depicts two apples propped on a table in front of a propped up open cookbook. Since apples and Apple Tree Cottage feature prominently in this cookbook series, the picture fits the book perfectly.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 66 pages
Published April 1st 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
original title For a Rainy Afternoon
ISBN13 9781632168603
edition language English
url http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/for-rainy-afternoon.html
series Tales of the Curious Cookbook

Tales of the Curious Cookbook series:

6 works, 5 primary works.
Five fun and fanciful stories about a rather curious cookbook!

Authors and Their Stories:

RJ Scott – For a Rainy Afternoon (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by R.J. Scott
Amy Lane – Food for Thought (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by Amy Lane
Marie Sexton – Lost Along the Way (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by Marie Sexton
Amber Kell – Cookies for Courting (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by Amber Kell
Mary Calmes – Just Desserts (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by Mary Calmes
RJ Scott – Tales of the Curious Cookbook by R.J. Scott

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

For most of his life, Terry Geirhart worked beside his best friend and lover on their farm nestled in rural southwestern Ontario. With Karlstadt being a small town, their true relationship remained a secret. Seth’s death in a tragic accident leaves Terry beside himself. After two years of mourning, Terry wants to learn to live again. Unfortunately, he has no idea how.  While not ready to date, Terry does need a new hired hand. A close friend suggests her relative from the city who’s looking for a new start. Damien Manicuso, stylish and openly gay, has never stepped out of the city, but after flunking out of university and being kicked out by his family, Terry’s job couldn’t be more welcome. The two have nothing in common except a mutual attraction, but working a farm brings people close. Both afraid to admit their feelings, they must find the courage or lose everything all over again.

I can’t think of a reason to give this book less than 4 stars. To Every Thing There Is A Season by Fil Preis is a quick and sweet read, something simple and light, just what I was in the mood of, as I start reading it. It was the perfect story for a cold day, snuggled on the sofa.

Terry has spent the last two years mourning the death of his best friend and partner Seth. Living in a small, old farming village is becoming really hard to Terry, all alone in a big farmhouse. When Damien, the city boy who has been kicked out of the university and just lost his parents’ financial support, comes to Karlstadt to work for Terry, he will change forever their lives. They both will be able to start again, but will they do it together?

There’s one beautiful thing I loved in this story: the optimism and hope I could feel since at the beginning. Of course, both characters have their own hard time in the past. Damien was lucky to escape from a relationship with a scaring controlling partner. Terry had a great loss but it’s clear that he’s ready to move on. When they were together, Terry and Seth made a brave promise to each other:

If anything ever happened to me, Terry had said, I’d want you to move on.[…]Not because I don’t love you, or don’t care if you were with someone else, but because I feel that it’s not fair to ask you to live the rest of your life alone, if something ever happened to me. Farming’s a dangerous business. I just got a reminder of that, the hard way.

Okay, Seth had said, […]Same for me, you know. If anything ever happened to me, I’d want you to learn to love again.

I found this book so positive it was a joy to read it. “No bad feelings allowed” should be added as a note at the start of it. And I forgot to say I’m talking about just 50 pages, so I think it wasn’t simple to put so much in a so small space.

I’m so ready to read more stories by this new-to-me author.

Cover art by Anna Sikorska. I love a cover that fit the story, the title and the characters of the book I’m reading and this one has all of these. I like the choice of the colors, each one representing a season and I can totally see Terry in the man on the cover.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

Published February 18th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press LLC
ebook, 50 pages
ISBN13 9781632165459
Edition language English

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AMAZON http://www.amazon.com/Every-Thing-There-Season-ebook/dp/B00TM7U5U2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1425156037&sr=8-2&keywords=To+Every+Thing+There+Is+a+Season

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Tag: M/M Contemporary romance novella

Barb, A Zany Old Lady Review –For a Rainy Afternoon (Tales of the Curious Cookbook) by R.J. Scott

A Stella Review: To Every Thing There Is a Season by Fil Preis

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