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From the author of the award-winning novel You Can Do Magic: Carnival of Mysteries and Publishers Weekly's BookLife quarterfinalist Earthquake Ethan comes a heartwarming holiday tale of found family and sacrifice. Two wildly opposite veterans connect over a shared love of art, rescue dogs, and a very special foster child.
Doug Cross spent the first half of his life attempting to appease his career-military father. After a stint in the Air Force and a successful career in cybersecurity, he’s traveled the world in search of fulfillment. He believes he’s found it in the San Francisco Bay Area with a room on an urban farm, a new spot in a goth punk band, and the support of his extended family. He’s always been a helper by nature, so when he learns that his housemate’s dog rescue is in trouble, he creates goth-influenced dog accessories to sell at the Treasure Island Arts and Crafts Fair in hopes of raising much-needed funds for the pups. He also lends a helping hand to his neighbor at the fair, and the two have a potential meet-cute…that quickly fizzles, leaving Doug wondering why his charming personality failed to make a new friend.
Luther Sorenson is a disabled Marine veteran who is struggling to keep his family afloat—and himself literally on his feet. His sister convinces him to sell his wood paintings at the fair as a way to supplement his income. He’s a single foster dad to eight-year-old Mila and is desperate to give her everything she deserves. His body doesn’t always cooperate, however, and having to ask for help from the goth guy next door at the art market could have potentially been humiliating. But Doug makes it easy, and Luther can’t stop thinking about him in between markets. Doug seems like the kind of person Luther could add to his support network. Not to mention, his superb makeup skills and the way he rocks a utilikilt have Luther smitten in no time.
A brunch “business meeting” turns into adult summer camp, and Doug and Luther embark on a tentative courtship while navigating the challenges of parenthood and owning a small business. But as the seasons change, the two men find in each other what they’ve always desired: love, family, and acceptance. On the night of the winter solstice, will they choose to combine forces and step into the unknown together?
Once Upon A Goth Dog Solstice is a part of the multi-author series Once Upon a Holiday Story. Each book can be read as a standalone and in any order. What links these books together is The Hook’s Book Nook Traveling Library, a library on wheels owned by two old ladies in love.
Available in #KindleUnlimited
“Dougie! You’ve got customers!”
Dinah was bouncing on her toes as two women stood at their designated pay station, their arms loaded with collars, bodysuits, and dog bowls. They each held leashes with black and white King Charles Cavaliers attached. Such cute pups. Doug had always been a big animal lover, and living with the Shaw sisters had been paradise. Between the farm animals and the foster dogs, there was always a critter to cuddle with, something he desperately needed in his life. Who could survive without cuddles?
“Awesome. Would you like any of that personalized?”
“Oh my goodness, yes, please! Could you? For Mugsy and Mojo?”
Doug grinned at the names. “Absolutely.” He went around the table to the station he’d set up for personalizing. It was behind their booth, so he didn’t get paint anywhere it shouldn’t be. “We can put them aside to dry, and you can come back before you leave the market to pick them up.”
They were thrilled. Doug got to work with his airbrush, adding their names in script to the two bodysuits. Then he did the collars and the bowls. He was so busy, he didn’t notice that the neighbor was standing behind his booth, watching him.
He removed his mask and started to say something, but then his neighbor had a customer. Before he knew it, Doug had spent the two hours personalizing items for their customers.
“Phew,” Dinah said as she took a drink of her homebrewed peach tea. “It’s only eleven forty-five and we’ve already sold out of bodysuits and bowls.”
Doug stood to look at their inventory, and he wrinkled his nose. “That sucks. I mean, I’m glad we sold a lot, but I hate to see empty shelves. Hey, if you don’t mind staying out there, let me get out those doggie t-shirts I ordered and I’ll start airbrushing them. They’ll dry quick and we can hang those up. Hopefully those will be popular too.”
Dinah looked down the aisle to see that Cecily had two customers. “Let me just check with Cecily. Maybe we should think about combining our booths so I can help both of you.”
“Or we could clone you,” Doug said with a shrug. “I swear, I’ll have way more stock next time. At least we know the stuff sells.”
Dinah squeezed his shoulder. “You are a gift, Doug. With this money, we can afford for Marianne to do more rescue flights, and we won’t have to max out the credit cards to keep the fosters fed, not to mention the vet bills. That last litter of pups we took in all had respiratory infections, and that cost a pretty penny in medication.”
“You guys are doing such great work. I’m happy to contribute whatever I can. The fruits of my labor are yours.”
“At least there are some perks to the job. You get to pet cute pups all day,” she said, as Doug’s gaze drifted once more to their sullen neighbor.
He didn’t interact with the customers unless they specifically asked him questions, but he seemed to have a steady stream of folks admiring his work. Doug started picturing ways to highlight the gorgeous paintings. Weave green moss into the mesh he’d used to hang the paintings; add some fairy lights, especially since it was darker in the back corners, which made it difficult to see the intricate details in his paintings. Doug wanted to offer suggestions, but he doubted they would be welcome.
It took him another two hours to spray paint the dog shirts he’d brought, and by the time he had them all hung up, the rest of his inventory was sold out, and Dinah’s treats were gone as well. She’d gone over to help Cecily, who was also just about out of soaps and lotions. This was wild. Doug was wondering how much money they’d made versus their costs—
“Oh, rats. I’m so sorry!”
Doug turned to look into his neighbor’s booth in time to see that a woman had bumped the mesh and one of the panels had pulled away from the canopy, which caused a few of the smaller paintings to fall onto the ground. The man was trying to hold up the mesh and bend down to pick up the paintings at the same time. The woman was older and distracted, and she wandered away from the booth to leave the owner to deal with her clumsy mess.
“How can I help?” He reached for the mesh. The guy made what Doug thought might be an appreciative grunt? If that was a thing. But then he bent down to pick up the paintings, and he cried out, his hand going to his lower back again as he caught himself on a table with his forearm. Sweat broke out on his forehead.
“Oh man, leave those. I’ll grab them.” Doug managed to get the mesh fastened quickly, and he went to the guy’s side. “Let me help you,” he said softly.
He could tell his neighbor didn’t want to accept his help, but he dropped his left hand into Doug’s extended right one, clasped it hard, and leaned heavily on Doug to climb back to his feet.
“Can you get me to the trailer? Please?”
That soft voice attempted to hide the pain this man was in, and Doug wanted to give him his dignity however he could. He helped the man to the back of his booth and over to the doors of the trailer. The man used his keys to open the padlock while leaning on Doug, and then he opened the doors. He turned and took Doug’s other arm so he could lower himself to a sitting position on the trailer’s ledge.
“What can I get you? Ice? Water? Some anti-inflammatories?”
The guy was taking shallow breaths. He pointed to a water bottle on the back table of his booth. Doug reached for it and handed it over. The guy took a sip and then a few deep breaths.
“You okay for a second? Let me go grab those paintings.”
Doug went to step away, but the guy kept hold of his arm for a minute. “Thank you,” he said, locking Doug in place with those sharp eyes.
4 out of 5 (very good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is book 8 in the Once Upon A Holiday series, a multi-author series joined only by the Hook's Book Nook Travelling Library, which pops up in all the books. I have not read any of those, and they can all be read as stand-alone books.
Luther is suffering after being medically discharged from the Marines, fostering his daughter and trying to make ends meet. Meeting Doug at the local craft market, and the pair embark on a tentative relationship, that sees Doug away for long periods. Can they make it work?
I liked this, a good deal.
It's sweet and cute, it's warm and fuzzies and low angst. Not ever so explicit, but I didn't miss that. It's more about the budding relationship between these two, than the smex. I liked that it was low steam, to be honest.
I kinda didn't feel their connection at the beginning though. I felt they met, met again, and then jumped into bed together. It just felt a little off, to ME, that's all. The connection DOES build, just that initial bit didn't quite work for me.
LOVED the way Luther introduces Mila and Doug, and how they all get along with Violet, Luther's sister. She has a story to tell, I'm sure! Oh and Oscar! Children and dogs for the win!
A good read, one that passed a very dull shift at work. One that made me smile.
4 stars
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *
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R.L. Merrill loves creating compelling stories that will stay with readers long after. Ro writes inclusive contemporary romance, paranormal, and horror-inspired music reviews. A mom, wife, daughter, former educator, and advocate for social and reproductive justice, you can currently find cruising in her Bronco with Great Dane pup Velma, being terrorized by feline twins Dracula and Frankenstein, or headbanging at a rock show near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area! Stay Tuned for more…
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