Boughs of Evergreen

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays I watch in movies and think ‘well, that looks nice’ and then I move on with my life without sparing it much more thought.

This year, I thought I’d read a story for Thanksgiving – we do it for Halloween and Christmas so why not Thanksgiving? Well, maybe because people are too busy eating turkey or for the fact that Thanksgiving stories are pretty hard to come by. I spent quite some time looking for a Thanksgiving book I wanted to read and I’m sad to say nothing really caught my interest, but then I remembered Shiny Things by Amy Spector.

If you think Amy Spector is all horror and blood and gore you’re wrong. Shiny Things is a gentle new adult romance. I loved it when I read it in 2014. Back then I didn’t know Amy and everything with writing was new and shiny and rather scary.

This story made me cry then and I thought maybe it wouldn’t now, but I got quite emotional while reading it this morning.

Shiny Things is about Nathaniel who’s father kicked him out when he found out he was gay and Vincent, the boy who got him kicked out. It’s Thanksgiving ten years later and these boys, now young men, meet again. Vincent is the owner of a gallery and Nathaniel is there to renovate said gallery.

There is one scene when Nathaniel is watching the paintings in the gallery and sits down to talk to the artist that had me sobbing – both in 2014 and now – it’s just a few lines but it’s enough.

If you haven’t read it, you should! Shiny Things is part of the Boughs of Evergreen anthology and the proceed from that anthology goes to the Trevor Project.

books2read.com/ShinyThings *

A story from Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology

At sixteen, Nathaniel Avery was shipped off to live with an aunt in hopes of quelling a budding relationship between him and another boy. Ten years later, a frantic call from his younger brother and his father’s failing health, brings him back home.

Just weeks before Thanksgiving and the most important day in Vincent Cooke’s career, he nearly collides with the grown version of the boy he never really forgot.

Will a gallery renovation, the holiday season and the art of a mad genius help them to rebuild a friendship and rekindle a romance?

* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

In a few days, on November 21^st, Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology will be up for sale, and I would like to say a few words about this anthology.

It’s twenty-three stories penned by twenty-four authors from the UK, the USA, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe. The stories are written to celebrate diversity, both cultural and within the LGBTQ community. But, here’s the most important thing—the proceeds go to The Trevor Project.

The Trevor Project is the only American organisation providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning young people.

You might not know, but suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people in the ages of 10 to 24. Lesbian, gay and bisexual young people are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers, questioning individuals are three times more likely, and nearly half of young transgender people have seriously thought about ending their lives. The mission of The Trevor Project is to end suicide among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning young people, and that’s a mission we want to support.

If you want to help, buy the anthology! If you don’t want to read the nearly 1000 pages dedicated to this cause, buy one of the volumes or a few of the individual stories—they’ll be published on the first of December. If you don’t want to read, but still want to help, go to stayclassy.org/beatentrackpublishing and make a donation.

Boughs of Evergreen is a two-volume collection of short stories celebrating the holiday season in all its diversity. Penned by authors from the UK, the USA, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, these are tales of the young and the not-so-young from many different walks of life.

Themes of family, friendship and romance take readers on a journey through some of the major holidays, both past and present, including Thanksgiving, Advent, St. Lucia Day, Hanukkah, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice, Yule, Christmas and New Year. In each we find at the very least hope, and often love, peace and happiness.

Each story is also available as a separate ebook.

Proceeds from sales of this anthology will be donated to The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is the leading national organization [USA] providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) young people ages 13-24.

THE STORIES:

A Friend for Christmas * – JP Walker
A Midnight Clear * – Debbie McGowan
From All of Us to All of You * – Ofelia Gränd
Homme for the Holidays * – Jonathan Penn
Kiss Me At Kwanzaa – * LL Bucknor
Lion’s Hero *- Alexis Woods
One Nightstand * – Rick Bettencourt
Shiny Things * – Amy Spector
The Bard and his Boyfriend * – Kathleen Hayes
The Christmas Present * – Larry Benjamin
X-Mas Cake: A Modern Fairytale * – Raine O’Tierney

A Christmas Tale * – Hans M Hirschi
A Family Christmas * – Terry Kerr
A Little Christmas Magic * – K.C. Faelan
Always Have, Always Will * – Amelia Mann
An Angel in Eyeliner * – Hunter Frost
Boyfriend Goes Home * – Laura Susan Johnson
Christmas Commitment * – Shayla Mist
Coming in from the Cold * – Ava Penn
Holidays with Drum and Bell! * – Matthias Williamson
Te Amo, You Mushrooms * – S.H. Allan
The Invasion of Tork * – Al Stewart and Claire Davis

* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Tag: Boughs of Evergreen

Shiny Things – A Thanksgiving Read

* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

* By clicking the Books2Read link you’ll be taken to an external page. Links to Smashwords, Kobo U.S and Amazon contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission at no additional cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.