Pre-order links: Amazon (paperback) / Riptide

Excerpt

Blueberries. Row upon row, acre upon acre. Connor’s arms ached with the memory of his first summer job. The dew glinting off the grass and leaves set his heart thumping thickly in his chest. Six said it was nostalgia, half dozen said grief. He lifted his camera from where it hung heavy around his neck and snapped a few photos. It was early yet; the golden hour hadn’t arrived, so there wouldn’t be any magic in the images. But he hadn’t come out here to make magic. He’d come to make a eulogy.

How many times could one man say good-bye to the same place?

He heard the diesel engine long before he bothered to turn around. This would be Bruce’s—no, Scott and Connor’s—tenant, probably wondering what Connor was doing here. Sure enough, the dually rumbled to a stop beside him, and a slender man about his own age stepped down from the cab. Brown hair and eyes, a hint of crow’s feet around the latter, unremarkable and yet appealing. Beautiful in that way strangers were, before you learned they hated cats or liked the wrong kind of country music.

“This is pr-private property. You c-can’t shoot pictures here.” The tenant’s voice was quiet, but with a firm set to his chin, he clearly meant business.

“It’s okay.” Connor tried to find a smile to offer him, but all he had was his name. “I’m Connor Graham.”

The man’s smile faded, and he ducked his head, swiping his Red Sox hat down and into his palms. “Man. I’m s-sorry. About your uncle.”

“Thank you. You’re the tenant, right? I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.” I hold his future in my hands; I should know his name.

“Jed J-Jones.”

Hell of a name for a man with a stutter.

Jed extended his hand slowly, like an afterthought. Connor reached to grasp it and ended up holding the hat. Jed flushed, grabbed it back, and placed it on his head with an exasperated huff. Then he took Connor’s hand in his, shaking firmly.

Jed’s hands were thin like the rest of him, fingernails stained purple around the edges. Connor didn’t know whether that spoke to his work ethic or his grooming habits, but found these farmer’s hands striking. He let go and lifted his camera.

“May I?”

“It’s your farm.” No bitterness there, just acquiescence.

“No, I mean, may I take your portrait?”

Jed’s face shuttered. “W-what for?”

“Because the first hour after sunrise, the world turns gold and gorgeous. Any minute now, the light is going to catch every bush here on fire—it’s going to be amazing. You’re here, you’re part of it, and I’d like you to be in the photograph.”

“Out here with b-burning bushes?” Jed raised a soft brown eyebrow and smiled.

“Please?”

“I guess.” He shrugged, then took off his baseball cap again. His hair was flattened close to his head, but puffed out a little around his ears. Hat head. Not something Connor was used to seeing in the city among the darlings of the male model set. And yet Jed lifted his chin with a model’s instincts, and the line of his jaw, the jut of his cheekbones were thrown into prominence. Beautiful.

“Here.” Connor pointed to the end of a row of bushes. “Stand just to the right of this one.” He stepped back and waited for the light. Jed studied Connor for a long moment—bemused or annoyed, Connor couldn’t tell—then turned his face to the east and watched in silence.

Jed was painted in gold and rose as the sun crept above the horizon. All around him, the sunlight caught on dew, limning the branches and leaves and casting a halo around Jed’s hair. It was almost enough to make Connor believe in angels. But not quite.

The clicks of Connor’s shutter sounded rapid-fire, loud in the morning stillness. Sure, he’d come out here to take photos of the farm, but this, this was so much better. This was the kind of portrait that won awards—a modern farmer, his baseball cap under his arm as he greeted the dawn. It felt intimate, sacred even. Connor wasn’t a lifestyle photographer, nor a documentarian. A photograph like this, of a man in his element, seemed surreal to someone who plied his trade in the carefully crafted falsehoods of fashion photography.

Jed turned his face back to Connor, smiled, and said, soft as can be, “Ch-cheese.”

Connor snapped a last shot and then lowered the camera. “Thanks.”

Jed ducked his head and nodded.

“I’ll let you go back to work.” Connor gestured to the truck. “I’ll take a few more photos of the farm, if that’s okay.”

“It’s y-your farm.” Jed repeated with a shrug. “I just work it.”

Connor nodded, awkward in the face of Jed’s acceptance of his place here. A place Connor didn’t feel a claim to, and didn’t want to. “Okay, thanks.”

Placing his hat on his head, Jed tipped it gently in Connor’s direction and climbed back into his truck. Connor watched him drive away, ignoring the temptation to photograph the tracks he left in the mud like so much graffiti. Jed was here. He wasn’t what Connor had expected when Marty Sullivan told him there was a tenant living in the main house and working the land.

The farmers he’d known as a child had been men like his uncle—big, brawny, and well used to a day’s work. Jed Jones was built like he’d fall over in a strong wind, with a body more in common with the lithe young things Connor photographed than with the rednecks who’d had no patience for Bruce Graham’s chubby sissy-boy nephew.

“Ch-cheese.”

Models didn’t say “Cheese.”

Synopsis

Connor Graham is a city boy—a celebrated fashion photographer in New York. When his uncle’s death drags him back to the family blueberry farm, all he wants to do is sell it as quickly as he can. Until he meets his uncle’s tenant farmer.

Jed Jones, shy and stammering, devout and dedicated, has always yearned for land of his own and a man to share it with. Kept in the closet by his church, family, and disastrous first love, he longs to be accepted for who he is. But now, with his farm and his future in Connor’s careless hands, he stands to lose even the little he has.

Neither man expects the connection between them. Jed sees Connor—appreciates his art and passion like no one else in this godforsaken town ever has. Connor hears Jed—looks past his stutter to listen to the man inside. The time they share is idyllic, but with the farm sale pending, even their sanctuary is a source of tension. As work, family, and their town’s old-fashioned attitudes pull them apart, they must find a way to reconcile commitments to their careers and to each other.

Review

I've read Vanessa North before and enjoyed both Double Up and The Last Drop. I was immediately attracted to this book because the blurb read a cute small-town romance, just what I needed. And the story didn't disappoint, I had great fun reading this.

It's a lovely slow burn small-town romance, low on angst and drama and with very life-like characters which made it very easy for me to relate to their story.  

Ms. North has a created a rich story with well-drawn complex characters, who are real people with imperfections and flaws, They are not physically perfect, Connor has a slight belly and has struggled with his body issues all his life and Jed's stammer makes even shy and closed-off, limiting his expression of feelings and emotions. 

The small-town setting with the town gossips, Jed's close-knit religious family worked really well for me. I like how Ms North showed her characters immersed and involved in the life of their community - family and small hometown for Jed , the world of male fashion photography for Connor. 

What I liked the best in this story is how real the characters and their struggles felt to me. I appreciate that despite being sweet and cute this story never became sappy. There were these little things that held it safely grounded in reality - family issues, the difficulties of coming out for someone who hates to be the focus of attention, Connor's difficulty at being with someone who is in the closet, the practical side of two people who live and work in different cities coming together.

I liked the religious aspect of the story as well. Religion was important for Jed and I felt happy for him that he found a way to accept his gayness and his belief in God in a way that make him happy and gave him peace and satisfaction. His beliefs were something personal and intimate and the way it was not made flashy and preachy really resonated with me.

I absolutely loved the romance in the story. It was a slow progression from friends to lovers to true partners, overcoming fears and forming deeper connections for both Connor and Jed. Their intimacy grew naturally, at a pace that suited them both. 

The main conflict was also well done, Connor and Jed had personal issues to overcome as well as some rather practical obstacles to being together. Their relationship was a work in progress, the differences between them being there and numerous and they didn't disappeared overnight. Both Connor and Jed wanted to make the relationship work and tried hard to do it. There were the inevitable mistakes but, thankfully no misunderstandings or lack communication to drive them apart.

The story was made even richer and more engaging with a great set of side character. I liked how it all fit together - the big city and the small town, the farmer and the fashion photographer, the male models and the Jed's family. They are so different on the surface but Ms North presents them as people mostly, with strengths and weaknesses and as such they grow and change, make mistakes but also learned from them. 

Overall, it's a sweet, slow burn romance between real people dealing with real issues which I greatly recommend.

Synopsis

Knowing he’s loved can make any man fly.

Fifteen years ago, Ben Warren was a wakeboarding champion: king of big air, ballsy tricks, and boned grabs. Until a career-ending injury left him broken in ways he still has no hope of fixing. Now he takes his thrills where he can get them, and tries not to let life hurt too much.

Then Davis Fox arrives in Ben’s sporting goods store with a plan to get in touch with his estranged brother by competing in the annual wakeboarding double-up contest. The catch? He’s never ridden before. It’s crazy, but Ben’s a sucker for the guy’s sob story—and for his dimples, too—so he agrees to coach Davis.

Davis is everything Ben isn’t: successful, confident, and in love with life. And he wants Ben to love life—and him—too. But before Ben can embrace a future with Davis, he needs to remember how to hope.

Review

I read mostly traditional M/F romance but I like to try different stories once in a while, so sometimes I pick up M/M romances as well. I'm no expert on the genre but this novella was a sweet, feel-good read which I enjoyed a lot.

Vanessa North is a new to me author and I found her writing simple, yet engaging and real, The story flows naturally and despite its short length, it gets the reader invested in the fate of the characters. This is a sweet love story between two guys, low on the angst and drama, and high on real issues and feelings. 

Neither Ben, nor Dave were  big alpha badass heroes, they were just ordinary guys dealing with life and trying to have a relationship.

The story is told from Ben's POV, who is a pretty jaded and disillusioned, ex-sports legend. On the surface is life is OK but in reality he is completely lost. It's Dave who literally saves him and brings him back to a fulfilling life full of love and hope and ultimately happiness. 

Dave is just irresistible with his blushes and take-charge attitude, blushing and commanding at he same time. There was certain vulnerability about him, yet a sense of strength, He knew who he was and what he wanted from life. 

The relationship between Ben and Dave was  based on compromise, exchange of control and initiative which made it so real and the issues they had to overcome were easy to understand and relate to. 

Ms North creates a set of great supporting characters, Ben's friends Eddie and Tina, Dave's kid brother, Ridley. They all add more substance to Ben and Dave's romance and provided some funny and some sweet times. 

Overall, it's a fell-good summer romance, a tender love story which feels both real and cute. A recommended read!

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