My snippet this week again comes from Cinders and Ash, the third book on the Campfire Stories series, which releases this week. I know I'm taking a risk following two M/M books with a M/F, but Lindsey is such a part of the first two books, I wanted her to have her own happy ending, even if she is aromantic.
This snippet takes place during a camping weekend with the couples from the first two books. Brian is pretending to be Lindsey's boyfriend (for reasons), simply because he enjoys camping and needed a break. It surprises them both how much they enjoy each other's company as they get to know each other. (And there might be a little foreshadowing for farther in the book...) Told from Lindsey's POV:
“Does it bother
you?” I asked.
“Does what bother
me?” Instead of hedging around the question, as I’d expected, there was honest
confusion in Brian's voice.
“Cherry and Ben.
Together. And Vaughn and Daryl.” I glanced over at my brother and our friends
where they were sitting together, drinking and laughing, and not paying us any
attention.
There was a pause
and I feared he wouldn’t answer, but then there was a hitch as he understood
what I wasn’t saying. “Oh! You mean because they’re men?”
“Yeah, Does it?”
“No. Bother
isn’t the word. It’s more like new. My circle of friends back home was
pretty small and no one was gay, or at least not that I know. Now my dad would
ha–” He cut off his words as if he realized what he was about to say, and
changed course. “It’s nice to see people that love each other.”
Blurb:
Lindsey Andrews has never had a boyfriend, and being aromantic, she doesn't want one. But during a moment of desperation, she latches onto her apartment complex’s maintenance man--a man she’s been sparring with from the first minute they met--and introduces him to her brother as her boyfriend. The fact she finds him sexy doesn’t make the ruse difficult.
Brian Ashton left his Wyoming family ranch for a new start in St. Louis. A week into his new job and the woman with the green hair in 2B already has him questioning his decision. The last thing he expects is the connection they form during a camping trip with her family and friends.
Pretending to be her boyfriend should be easy, but Brian’s beginning to realize nothing is easy when it comes to Lindsey. And falling in love with a woman who is there when he needs her, but still insists she can’t love him back, is the hardest thing he’s ever done.
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Nice!
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