Mistletoe Hop: Dec 20-23

Christmas Trees. Holiday Music. Sugar Cookies. Glitter and Bows. And Best Of All … the Mistletoe. Romance books enhance our holiday traditions. Who doesn’t love to cuddle under a warm blanket near a fire place on a cold day and read? Hop around with us to celebrate the best romance books of the season.

Read excerpts from some good books. Enter each of the author contests. Tell us what you like to read during the holidays. Find some new-to-you authors to ring in the New Year with.

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For the Mistletop Hop I’m giving out eight copies of my newest collection “Shorts and Squares: Jagged Blade.”

As the title suggests, it’s a collection of short stories and vignettes. Included are a couple of Human Pets Verse vignettes like the excerpt, and the short story Black Friday which is set in the Heroes & Villains universe and features a young pre-Starburst Vereint Georges.

Most of the stories are gen, though there are some genhet, mm, and ff. Hopefully there’s something for everyone 🙂 There’s a rafflecopter after the excerpt, so please feel free to enter. Otherwise, follow the Linky at the bottom and check out the rest of the hop.

Good luck to everyone, and happy holidays!

Reef had been alone with only alien company for so long he thought he’d already lost his mind. There were some days when he had to force himself up out of bed, fearful of what would happen if he was thought to be sick. He really didn’t want to be put down.

He forced himself up and was cheerful and affectionate toward the Owner. It earned him tasty treats and lavish attention that were a lot better than the old mattress pad and dry kibble he’d had to put up with at the pet shop. The Owner would feed him real food, meat and vegetables, and even though everything was blandly prepared, it was positively gourmet when compared to the kibble and tepid water. He could almost get himself to believe that everything was going to be okay.

It was strange to think that he’d been free once. He’d been a kid with parents and a house and a future that had stretched before him with possibility. He’d still thought humans were going to turn it around, right up until he was marched onto a ship and sold on the galactic slave market. And then he’d learned to follow the commands he was given and keep his head down.

The Owner wasn’t so bad. He was one of the big furry bear ones versus the more sinister lizard ones that had conquered Earth and eaten his parents. The Owner had seemed to think Reef was fascinating and exotic; for the first few months he’d constantly checked what Reef thought was a book on pets. He’d read a few pages and then try to teach Reef simple tricks.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if Reef could understand what the Owner was saying, but his ears just weren’t built to handle the bear speech. Every once and a while he could make out a sound or two, but for the most part he just saw that mouth open and close and he had to figure out what was happening from the rather erratic gestures.

Reef had taken to teaching the Owner various broad gestures that he’d decided would mean certain things. He wished he could use sign language, but he didn’t know any and he wasn’t sure the Owner would pay attention anyway.

Over the past two years he’d come to realize that the Owner was some kind of rich socialite or something. His clothes were different from other bear-things and the way he held himself was different. He also seemed to be really attractive to some others of his species, because there were always dozens of males and females hanging around and Reef was pretty sure there was sex happening in the house when he was locked in his kennel. And to the Owner, Reef was a purse dog.

Reef had seen the way humans and animals from Earth were treated. He guessed they were so new on the market that they cost a lot of money and were currently some kind of status symbol. Only the richest of aliens were buying them. He supposed he should be flattered that he’d cost a ton of money, but mostly Reef just wished he could go home.

Until the day he found himself being led on his leash through some kind of market and the Owner took him to a fenced in area full of people. He’d never imagined how emotional it would be to see other human faces. He’d nearly forgotten what a face other than his own looked like.

He was momentarily frightened that he was being resold. He liked being the Owner’s pet. It was so much better than being locked in a small cage at the pet shop, shivering and naked as only purchased humans were allowed clothes. Then he realized that the Owner was going to buy another human. He wouldn’t have to be alone.

From the gesture the Owner made, Reef saw that he was supposed to help pick the new human. He was being allowed to choose his new companion. It was a frightening and heady prospect. Who was he supposed to save? How was he supposed to know who he would get along with from this desperate group of strangers? He almost wanted to turn away.

“Reef! Is that you, Reef Galloway?”

Reef traced the shouts and his breath caught for a second. Then he screamed, “Ryan!”

The other was older than the last time they’d seen each other and seemed to have filled out some in the interim, but there was no doubt in his mind that that was Ryan Bellows. The boy he’d had a crush on back before the end of the world.

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