by Louise Lyons
Genres: Contemporary, M/M, Romance
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Main character, Keith Brambles, is an up and coming British singer. He has had one disastrous first date after another, finding most men are only interested because of who he is. After yet another failed meeting, he sets off for home, driving too fast for the conditions. He loses control of his car in the snow and finds himself stranded – with no mobile phone signal and an outfit completely unsuitable for braving the freezing conditions.
Just as Keith has begun to think he’s destined to spend a night in his car, possibly suffering from hypothermia, a potential rescuer arrives, but Keith wonders whether he might have more to fear from the man, than the weather.
Just as Keith has begun to think he’s destined to spend a night in his car, possibly suffering from hypothermia, a potential rescuer arrives, but Keith wonders whether he might have more to fear from the man, than the weather.
*Originally published in the Stranded Anthology*
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“You’re Kent Brambles,” his rescuer said; a statement rather than a question.
Shit. “Uh…yes. Keith, actually. Kent’s just my…um…my…”
“Stage name?” The man grinned, but then grimaced a little.
“Yeah. I’m guessing my…uh…my music isn’t your cup of tea,” Keith said nervously.
“I’m into my rock and roll.” He smiled again and extended a large hand. “Mike Talbot.”
Surprised, Keith swapped hands with the cup of coffee, and slid his small, frozen hand into Mike’s big warm one. Mike gripped it firmly and gave it a brief shake, then let go.
“So what are you doing out here, driving in these conditions?” Mike asked.
“I…um…I went to meet a friend in Lincoln. It wasn’t snowing when I set off,” Keith replied.
“A friend? You mean a date?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s he doing letting you drive home in this shit? Couldn’t you stay over?” Mike’s brows furrowed, and Keith’s eyes widened. Appearances certainly could be deceptive. White Van Man, big, bearded, and apparently tattooed, didn’t seem to care that Keith was gay. Keith silently reprimanded himself for stereotyping his rescuer.
“Well…he…um…” He paused and shrugged. “It was a first date. He was only interested because of who I am.”
“That must be a pain in the ass. Do you get that a lot?” asked Mike.
“More often than not.”
“Maybe you’re looking in the wrong place, or for the wrong type of guy. You should try one who’s not into your music, and you might have better luck.” Mike grinned and winked.
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My rating: 3 of 5 stars
As a budding musician Keith has trouble determining if men are interested in him or his image. After another disastrous date he runs into Mike, a sexy man with the perfect boy-next-door image. Keith assumes he could never have a chance with the obviously straight Mike, but he of all people, should know to never judge another based on appearances.
I loved Mike's character, he's laid back, likable, sexy and sweet. Keith is a bit harder to identify with, as he tends to be a bit whiny and self centered. Just as his shell was starting to crack and the story got interesting... it ended.
I can appreciate the fine art of writing a short story, but I felt like ONE SNOWY NIGHT would have benefited from an extra chapter or two to finish rounding out the characters and reading experience. It did catch my interest though, and I would love to read more.
Louise Lyons comes from a family of writers. Her mother has a number of poems published in poetry anthologies, her aunt wrote poems for the Church, and her grandmother sparked her inspiration with tales of fantasy. Louise first ventured into writing short stories at the grand old age of eight, mostly about little girls and ponies. She branched into romance in her teens, and MM romance a few years later, but none of her work saw the light of day until she discovered Fan Fiction in her late twenties.
Posting stories based on some of her favorite movies, provoked a surprisingly positive response from readers. This gave Louise the confidence to submit some of her work to publishers, and made her take her writing “hobby” more seriously.
Louise lives in the UK, about an hour north of London, with a mad Dobermann, and a collection of tropical fish and tarantulas. She works in the insurance industry by day, and spends every spare minute writing. She is a keen horse-rider, and loves to run long distance. Some of her best writing inspiration comes to her, when her feet are pounding the open road. She often races into the house afterward, and grabs pen and paper to make notes.
Louise has always been a bit of a tomboy, and one of her other great loves is cars and motorcycles. Her car and bike are her pride and joy, and she loves to exhibit the car at shows, and take off for long days out on the bike, with no one for company but herself.
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