Length: 13,655
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner | AllRomance | B&N | KOBO
Blurb
All Ethan wants for Christmas, and the rest of his life, is Toby.
All Ethan wants for Christmas, and the rest of his life, is Toby.
For years, Ethan and Toby have said they’ll never marry, despite Ethan’s secret wishes. So leaving sunny California for snowy Minnesota to witness his sister’s vow renewal is not how he wants to spend his Christmas Eve. It’s the second time she’ll say “I do” in less than a year, when Ethan saying those words to Toby even once is hopeless.
In the run-up to the ceremony, Toby seems to avoid Ethan, and doubts grow in his absence. Ethan can’t help noticing Toby spends more time with Ethan’s family than with him. Little does Ethan know, Toby has desires of his own. But if Toby doesn’t find a way to reveal them, Ethan could leave for home without him.
In the run-up to the ceremony, Toby seems to avoid Ethan, and doubts grow in his absence. Ethan can’t help noticing Toby spends more time with Ethan’s family than with him. Little does Ethan know, Toby has desires of his own. But if Toby doesn’t find a way to reveal them, Ethan could leave for home without him.
LOOKING UP from the doodle I’d started on a cocktail napkin, I ordered. “Surly Furious. Two, please.” It was the beer I’d begged my sister to ship to me from back home. I wanted to give my employees a taste of Minnesota, even if they relentlessly teased me about my accent and “unfathomable” work ethic. I didn’t end up owner of a top-rated design house by the time I was in my midtwenties by phoning it in, so I never let their jibes bother me much.
The server reached for glasses after cracking each large can with a pfft and pfft, but I waved him off. “We’ll drink ’em right from the can, thanks.”
“Certainly.”
I slipped a ten in his tip jar and turned to the center of the distinctive ballroom, where people were dancing. His thanks trailed after me as I made my way over to Toby, who looked ready to blend into the leather couch while the room buzzed around him.
I pressed the chilled beer into his warm palm. “Here. This is the one I told you about.”
He took a sip and looked at me with dark eyes before taking another few swallows. He smiled when he finally set the can down. “It’s good. Real good.”
“Told ya.” I leaned in and kissed the beer foam that clung to his mustache. His beard brushed my chin, and as much as I wanted to get lost in his kisses, I was there as the boss tonight and couldn’t really let go like I wanted.
“Look at you two! So in love.” Stella, my right-hand and necessary coconspirator in most projects, plopped herself in the chair next to me and sipped at a neon-pink drink garnished with at least three fruit kabobs. Her eclectic style, mostly latent punk rocker meets Vargas pinup girl, was in full bloom. She would’ve fit perfectly on the nose of an Air Force plane or at any dance club in the city.
I smiled at her as I leaned against Toby’s shoulder. The sparkle in her lined eyes made what she was about to ask obvious.
“When are you two going to finally tie the knot?”
“We’re not,” Toby said without a second’s hesitation.
I crossed my feet at the ankles to ward off any evil as I lied through my teeth. “It’s not something either of us has ever wanted. No need to be tied down to a person. God knows I’m tied down by enough strings to this business, which grows busier by the day.”
Stella studied me out of the corner of her eye, skeptical. I talked shop to shake her focus.
December 29 - V's Reads, Out Of My Head, Hearts on Fire Reviews, Dog-Eared Daydreams, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, BooksLaidBareBoys, More Books Please Blog, The Way She Reads, Keysmash, Gay Book Reviews
December 30 - Bonkers About Books, The Day Before You Came, The Geekery Book Review
January 2 - Making It Happen, Wicked Faerie's Tales & Reviews
January 4 - Bayou Book Junkie
January 6 - Bella's Blog, Books Lovers 4Ever, MillsyLovesBooks, Jim's Blog, MM Good Book Reviews, Slashessed.
My Thoughts
My Thoughts
Analog to Digital is a wonderful and sweet Christmas
story, a bit of a comedy of errors really.
Poor Ethan, for years he’s been
telling his boyfriend, Toby, that he’s not interested in marriage just because
he believes that’s how Toby feels. Deep inside Ethan wants nothing more than to
be Toby’s husband but he can’t figure out how to share that truth. A visit home
for Christmas and to watch his sister and her husband exchange wedding vows for
the second time within a year is about the last thing he wants to do. But Toby
insists and Ethan loves Toby, so they go.
Things go from bad to worse
when Toby keeps on disappearing on Ethan, going off on missions he never has a
satisfactory explanation for. Ethan moves from bemused through uncertain to
fully convinced that Toby is hiding something from him and maybe even putting
distance between them.
What happens next probably
won’t come as a huge surprise to the reader but Ethan certainly didn’t see it
coming. I read the final fifth of this book with a huge grin on my face and
happy tears burning in my eyes once or twice, delighted to see Ethan get
everything he thought he would never have.
As always Posy Roberts gave me
characters who felt real. Sure, I wanted to slap Ethan once or twice for
allowing his doubts to cloud his mind so very fast, but whether I liked them or
not, his thoughts and actions were realistic. Toby was utterly adorable, even
if he should have realised the turmoil he was creating for Ethan. In fact, I
guess it was the fact that these two men weren’t perfect and did stumble once
or twice, that made me like them so much.
If you’re in the mood for a
Christmas story that will lift your spirits and make you grin hugely, I’d
recommend you pick up Analog to Digital asap.
About Posy
Posy Roberts writes about the realistic struggles of men looking for love. Whether her characters are family men, drag queens, or lonely men searching for connections, they all find a home in her stories.
Posy is a Jill of all trades and master of the drill and paintbrush. She’s married to a partner who makes sure she doesn’t forget to eat or sleep during her writing frenzies. Her daughter, a budding author and cinematographer, helps her come up with character names. For fun, Posy enjoys crafting, hiking, and singing spontaneously about the mundane, just to make regular life more interesting.
Newsletter Sign up
No comments:
Post a Comment