I’ve read 66 books this year. This is the pick of those I gave 5/5 stars to. I’ve restricted myself to only including one of these per author.
This year I’ve read:

• 5 gay / male male romances
  
• 3 literary fiction / romantic fiction
• 1 non-fiction
  

The rest were male female category romances – some retro from as far back as the seventies, right up to contemporary. This has definitely been the year of the category romance. These books were ones I would dismiss out of hand, thinking them simple, easy, not very interesting to read. Until I actually read one. And then I discovered why they’re so popular. Escapism, romance, travelling to exotic locations and lots of heart. What’s not to like?

There were lots of 4 and 4.5 star ones too, but here’s my 5 star reads.

The Ruthless Greek’s Return – Sharon Kendrick
Imperious hero, strong heroine to win him over. Glamorous location, buckets of sexual tension. Plot that zips along. Perfect.

The Lone Rancher – Andrew Grey
Secrets, stripping, cowboys, family secrets, fun in the back of a pickup truck. This was just so damned much fun!

The World is Full of Married Men – Jackie Collins
Not a romance, but full of glitzy wit and fun you expect from JC. So. Much. Fun.

The Socialite and the Cattle King – Lyndsay Armstrong
Opposites attract. Glamour. Sizzle. Fun. Perfect.

The Billionaire Takes a Bride – Liz Fielding
I’ve read many of this author’s books and they never disappoint. Simply a perfect category romance.

Tempted by the Bridesmaid – Annie O’Neil
A hospital made in a deserted village in Italy. Clever, sassy heroine. Smouldering handsome hero. Perfect unresolved sexual tension hovering throughout. Great sensuality scenes. Fabulous

A Kiss, A Dance, A Diamond – Helen Lacey
Second chance love, old friends. Hurt hero. Small town. Slow burn. All. The. Romance.

Romancing the Ugly Duckling – Clare London
I loved the city-living sparkly loud fashion stylist and how he contrasted with the gruff quite guy who lives in the middle of nowhere in the Scottish Highlands. Perfect amount of sensuality. So much humour and wit. Loved loved loved it.

Tin Man – Sarah Winman
Unrequited love between two men who grew up together. One turns out to be straight, the other makes a life as a gay man in the eighties. Cried buckets. Romantic, but not a romance. Sad ending. But beautiful.

The New Guy In Town – Teresa Southwick
Florist who knows the banker’s dating history due to providing all his first date flowers. A natural disaster throws them together. Sassy heroine. Imperious hero. I. Loved. It.

A Spanish Christmas – Penny Jordan
Penny is something of an institution in Mills and Boon circles. I’m trying to collect all 187 of her category romances plus her longer romantic novels. A doctor, a nurse, a large house over Christmas in Spain. Wonderful.

I hope some of these may help with your reading list in 2019. Here's to next year filled with wonderful books!

Love and light,

Liam Livings xx

I wanted to do a bit of a 2018 round up to bring together all the writing activities I’ve done in what’s proved to be another busy year.

Events

• Attended 2 budget writing retreats (in caravans) organising one of them and just going to the other one. These were a great way to focus on writing, spend time with people who understand what it’s like to be an author, and all for a very affordable price.
• Went to the RNA Conference in Leeds. I love this as it’s the main way to reconnect with author friends from all over the country. It’s all so chock full of great content of workshops, panels and of course, who can forget the gala dinner and the kitchen parties.
• Delivered 5 writing workshops with my partner in sarcasm and writing crimes, Virginia Heath.
• Until July, I was on the UK Meet organising committee when I decided to hand over the reins to others.
  

Books

• Written and self edited 4 books: The Rewilding of William, Nick and Tony, Bjorn and Fabian, Kieran and Friends.
• This was the year when I finally got round to self publishing. I’d been meaning to do this for a while, with about 8 backlist books with rights reversions languishing and needing to be re-released. I’m really pleased I finally grasped the KDP bull by the self publishing horns. Now I know about widows and orphans in paperbacks, justified text and how Kindle create works.
• Self published 3 of my back list as paperback and e-books: The Guardian Angel, Wrong Room Right Guy, And Then That Happened. All these paperbacks are still at sale price as I’ve not yet put them back up to normal price, if you fancy grabbing a bargain.
• Self published 1 non-fiction book as e-book and paperback: Marketing The Romance
• Self published as paperback: A New Life For Christmas (which was already available as an e-book)
• I’ve had 4 books published with publishers: The Journalist and the Dancer, Kev books 1 and 2, I Should Be So Lucky. Each of these involved numerous rounds of editing.
• Self edited 2 books I’d written a few years ago, rescuing them from languishing on my hard drive.

Submissions

I’ve done 21 submissions. This is to editors, agents, and direct to publishers.

Manuscript Appraisals

5 Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers Scheme appraisals. I’ve been a reader for this scheme since 2014 and it’s a great scheme if you can get on it. If you can’t, then I am happy to do manuscript appraisals privately.

What about 2019?

I’ve already got a list of the 4 books I’m planning to write in 2019. Plus I have a more blacklist books to self publish so I can share them with readers who may have missed them the first time around, this time with shiny new covers.

I hope you've enjoyed reading some of my stories, interacting with me on social media, or seeing me in person. Here's to a great 2019,

Love and light,

Liam xx

I was interviewed on the RNA blog about my latest releases, inspiration, how I write so much while working and how to promote books. Here's a few extracts from the article:

I Should Be So Lucky, which was out in September 2018, is a category romance about two men and their relationship. Julian is a backing dancer for Sallie, an Australian pop princess and he enjoys the travel this job affords him to share his love of men far and wide for many years. If Julian had a slogan it would be: I’m Julian, fly me!

It was inspired by watching a concert of my favourite Australian pop princess and clocking a very good-looking backing dancer and wondering: what’s his story? I then went to see the same pop princess at Hyde Park for a concert and noticed the St John Ambulance volunteers and their rather impressive uniforms and the large glitter balls on stage. And the rest is purely invented by me!

My secret to being so prolific (while having a day job) are three tips: Pomodoro, Neo, Enya. I’ll unpack each of them in turn to explain what I mean. [NOTE ADDED LATER: I should have described it as Pomodori, Neo, Orinoco after a well-known Enya song] Read the full article for what I actually mean by these three tips!

I love rom coms and romance in my TV too. I think this has influenced my writing because they tend to all end optimistically. I think there’s enough sadness in the world without me adding to it in my fiction. I tend to write humour in my stories too – not as in characters sitting around laughing at their own jokes as this is rarely funny in my experience. But the humour is found in situations they find themselves in, the deadpan dialogue and quips they share with each other.

The full interview is on the RNA blog.

Some of my Christmas stories are featured in this article about LGBTQIA+ festive romance by Eleanor Harkstead.

Here's the part Eleanor wrote about my stories featured:

A festive novella kicks off Liam Living’s contemporary gay romance Serendipity box-set – and another one completes it. The Serendipity novellas chart the relationship of David and Christian. In the opening story, David’s just lost his job, and Christian has been disinvited by his parents for Christmas – he’s just come out and his parents are struggling to accept his sexuality. Both feeling despondent, David and Christian meet at a friend’s, who does Christmas with vast amounts of gusto. And they soon cheer up. I promise that once you’ve read this book, you’ll feel as if you have spent Christmas Day with the characters, and you’ll have a phantom full stomach too. Stick with the series to follow David and Christian into the New Year all the way to next Christmas and see how their relationship develops. The Serendipity box-set is filled with Liam’s observant wit and has an authentic own voices twist. Liam revisits the festive season in his house-swap novel A New Life for Christmas.

The full article is on the RNA blog.

I'm talking about this and other related questions on the Pink Heart Society column.

Here's a few extracts of the interview:

I’m a gay man writing about gay men falling in love which is rarer than you may imagine. I use my personal experience in everything I write. I joke with my historical romance author friends that I don’t do research—the thought of poring through books and maps on a historical period to work out speech patterns, clothes and moral mores for a story fills me with dread.

Reviewers describe me as ‘a romantic realist’ which I love. Based on reviews, with my stories the personal elements can, for some readers, make the experience more interesting, and also it can prove disappointing, for the reasons I’ve outlined. The thing is, I can’t really write these stories without including elements of my own experience and therefore making them personal, so I’m not going to try.

The full column, including interviews from other authors is on the Pink Heart Society website.

To celebrate December, when I’ve been a published author for five years, I’ve reduced the price on some of my books. They’re all on sale from 12 to 22 December.

99c / 99p for the e-book and paperback also reduced.

A New Life For Christmas

If you liked the film, The Holiday, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy this gay romance inspired by it. All the snow, all the romance, all the sparkle, all the life swap, all the HEA!

A house exchange between two single men leads to a romantic new life for both of them.

Oliver and Kyle live thousands of miles apart, but each needs a break from his current life and love. Enter the Cloud B&B website, a wonderful new way to exchange homes for the holiday. They both muster their courage, and decide to visit another continent for Christmas.

In the UK, Oliver has been pining after his neighbour for far too long, living his comfortable but quiet life in a town in the New Forest. When his crush moves on in the worst possible way, Oliver is seduced by the chance to stay in fun-loving, sunny Miami.

In Miami, Kyle is a club owning workaholic, who suddenly discovers the man he lives with has been unfaithful. Yet again. As consolation, Kyle is tempted to see first hand the picturebook charm of the New Forest in winter.

Both of them find not just a new setting but a new romance. Oliver makes a big effort to shed his inhibitions and meets a musician, Mark, who plays in the Florida bars, and who may be just as cautious and polite as Oliver in making the first move.
And while Kyle’s trying to come to terms with England’s very different culture—and food!—he’s charmed by Oliver’s best friend Edward, who’s bold and sexy, but secretive.

Will Oliver take the leap of faith and encourage a lover who can and will give the commitment he deserves? And will Kyle find a man who can be loyal and also offer Kyle the family life he needs?

But perhaps more importantly—when Christmas is over, can a new life survive?


What other say about A New Life For Christmas by Liam Livings

Gorgeous holiday romance that will leave a warm fuzzy glow. (Miss S, Amazon review)

This was a great book to read, and I can thoroughly recommend it. For me Liam caught the magic of Christmas with also the just right amount sexual tension, you knew what was going to happen without being told and it was lovely to read. They was also some what I call chuckle moments, which lifted the book. I cannot express how I much I loved reading this book. (Michelle, Amazon review)

Sweet, emotional and. HEA, what more could you ask for? Loved it! (Lyn, Amazon review)

I loved the banter between the characters and how the relationships grew and blossomed. This had me blubbing at the end of the first chapter and I found myself routing for the characters to the end. (Terry Bowen, Amazon review)
All four guys are really sweet, as is the story itself. It's refreshing to read an m/m novel that fades to black for the sex scenes. It promises a feel good, fun, Christmas story and it delivers exactly that. (Rhoda Baxter, Amazon review)

A New Life For Christmas mybook.to/New_Life_Christmas

To celebrate December, when I’ve been a published author for five years, I’ve reduced the price on some of my books. They’re all on sale from 12 to 22 December.

99c / 99p for the e-book and paperback also reduced.

Wrong Room, Right Guy
Is all fair in love - even a lie that grows out of control - if you’re giving Fate a hand to meet your ideal man?

Simon’s trying to teach English to kids who couldn’t care less, he’d really rather be a writer – but when his best friend bullies him into it, he joins his local writing group. Accidentally walking into the wrong room at the Village Hall where the writers group meets, Simon finds himself in a Cocaine Anonymous meeting; there, Blowjob Lips Retro Tracksuit Man, catches his eye.

Told to write about something more interesting, and keen to find out more about Tracksuit Man Darren, Simon makes up an identity from a cocaine-shame-celebrity-memoir and returns to the Cocaine Anonymous meeting. It’s the start of a double life, making him tell more and more lies, and leading him to the strongest love he’s ever felt for another man.

Simon knows he can’t be a teacher any more, but the writer he’s become isn’t the man Darren has fallen love with, so who is Simon now?

How long can Simon continue with his double life?

Can Simon face up to the lie he told to Darren?

Will the love Simon feels for Darren justify the means by which he met him?

What Others Think about Wrong Room, Right Guy, by Liam Livings
A delightful tale, full of hilarious situational comedy that makes me laugh out loud while at the same time squirming with the recognition that the scrapes that Livings' characters get into happen all too often in real life - it's just that we don't like to own up to them. (Bruin Fisher, Good Reads review)

Liam Livings has a writing style all his own, which is wonderfully easy to read. He writes like he's not so much writing a story as telling it. I could believe he and I among a group of friends are in a bar somewhere with pints in our hands and he's being an entertaining raconteur for the rapt table. I wish I could write like that.

Simon's awkwardness sometimes made me cringe, but I really enjoyed the story. Darren was an interesting character. Great story. (Susinok, Good Reads review)

The author brought his characters to life, exposing different sides to their personalities that made their decisions, reactions, and the dialogue understandable- even when some actions were questionable...The story left me satisfied, and I'm certain the plot will stick with me for a long while. (Annie Good Reads review)

I liked Darren well enough to keep me interested in what would happen to him. Overall, the reading experience was enjoyable. (JJ Good Reads review)

There were real life mistakes in this story and struggles for both characters. Yes, there were moments I didn’t like, but it made the story real and more touching. I was happy in the end and had a smile on my face! (Jenn Good Reads review)

Liam Livings’ unadorned, realistic style makes his stories feel factual, true-to-life. Livings stays close to what he knows, both as a Brit and as a gay man. That’s good, because his romances feel authentic, in voice and in the details of daily life. (Ulysses, Amazon Review)

Wrong Room, Right Guy mybook.to/Wrong_Room_L_Livings

To celebrate December, when I’ve been a published author for five years, I’ve reduced the price on some of my books. They’re all on sale from 12 to 22 December.

99c / 99p for the e-book and paperback also reduced.

The Guardian Angel

Magic, friendship, angel, HEA, sparkle!

What happens when a man falls in love with his guardian angel?

Richard Sullivan is plagued by white feathers turning up at the oddest moments. Amy, his best friend, suggests his guardian angel is trying to contact him, but he dismisses the idea out of hand as nonsense.

Until, that is, he meets Sky. Six feet of muscle in a man skirt with white feather wings.

What exactly is a guardian angel? And what happens when your guardian angel takes leave and sends in a temp to cover? Do you wait for a perfect boyfriend on the off chance you may be able to touch him, to be with him, or do you grab happiness with another human? And, why the hell has Richard’s life suddenly become so complicated?

What other readers thought of The Guardian Angel
Richard’s story is all ups and downs. Nothing comes easy to him. Jobs, love, his family, friends. Things fall apart royally for him...This is a lovely story, fairly long, but very interesting for those who wonder what it would be like to meet your guardian angel. (Diverse, Good Reads review)

What a great read...it is such a good novel concept and story that it should appeal to anyone with romance in their soul! (Nick, Good Reads review)

A sweet story from Liam, dealing with a range of emotions and scenarios which kept me turning the page. (George Loveland, Good Reads review)

“Guardian Angel” has a sense of great, meandering intimacy about it. It is ultimately a romance, but by a route that is more about its protagonist’s psychological journey than about the romance itself...[it is] a surprising novel, its magical aspect carefully balanced by the blunt realism of most of the actual story. Like all of Liam Livings’ novels so far, it seems to tap into a very deep yearning on the part of young people today for a life that is meaningful and emotionally fulfilling. The difficulty in achieving such a life is, I suspect, at the core of Livings’ success as a storyteller. (Ulysses, Prism Book Alliance review)



The Guardian Angel mybook.to/Guardian_Angel_Livings

To celebrate December, when I’ve been a published author for five years, I’ve reduced the price on some of my books. They’re all on sale from 12 to 22 December.

99c / 99p for the e-book and paperback also reduced.

And Then That Happened

Gay romance, friends to lovers, HEA, soapy, health issues, mental health issues, it’s all in there!

Should you settle for a nearly perfect happiness or put your heart on the line for more?

It’s 1999 and 28-year-old Dominic’s carefully planned suburban life with his boyfriend Luke is perfect. His job as a nurse, his best friend Matt, his relationship with his parents, everything is just right. He and Luke have been together ten years, seen each other through friends’ deaths and their parents’ ups and downs, and even had a commitment ceremony.

Fate throws Gabe into Dominic’s life. Gabe isn’t happy with his boyfriend, but he stays with him, because, well it’s complicated. And then that happened. Gabe’s open relationship, impulsive nature, enthusiasm for life and straight talking advice are fascinating to Dominic. They’re friends, they click over a shared love of Goldie Hawn and Gabe shows Dominic there can be more to life than planned and safe. So why can't he take his own advice?

And Then That Happened is about finding a new kind of happiness, even when what you have is already perfect. And how sometimes perfect isn’t quite what it seems.

This isn’t your typical romance. “And Then That Happened” is a beautifully rendered portrait of the death of a long-term relationship and the long, slow birth of a new one...It is about his whole history with Luke—from college to surviving the horrors of AIDS, to dealing with parents and difficult friends and the constant threat of depression. Livings tackles the full, complicated truth of a young man’s life and flinches at nothing. (Ulysses Dietz, Good Reads)

This is not your typical romance. In fact if I think about it, it was almost the opposite, the telling of a break up story, the beginning, during and aftermath...But the story makes the journey worth it. (Mercedes, Good Reads)

What could be considered a diversion from the norm, the author now takes his readers to the romantic side with the story of Dominic and Gabe. The two lovers who were not. The two men who saw friends die from AIDS. The two men who took their friendship to levels their boyfriends could not understand. Heck, they did not understand it either. The point is, they met, they connected, they loved platonically and they moved on...Is this a romance? Is this gay fiction? I say it is both but not. It is life as from the words of an author who sees and writes about them. This made me tear up! (Multitaskingmomma Good Reads)

This book won't be for everyone, but I loved it...This book...wow, this book...Liam took a delicate subject, attraction to someone who is not the person you had thought you were going to be with. That balance of trying to contain or deny those feelings, trying not to let them affect the relationship you have...I really don't want to spoil the storyline but I think this book really should be considered by everyone, don't dismiss it out of hand. It is going on my favourites shelf, and I hope it makes it on to yours. (Lori, Good Reads)

I loved Dominic. The description of his depression, his careful curation of his feelings to keep himself sane and the way he tries so hard to do what’s right by Luke and his mother, and his father, and his friend Matt, and the crazy Di-Anne woman at work all make him a very sympathetic character...And Then That Happened is a lovely, well written slow burn romance. (Rhoda Baxter, Good Reads)

4 STARS: This is a story of a series of happenings that have Dominic re-thinking his perfect life. He is admirable in many ways. He honored his commitment to Luke, but also knew he was being unfair to him. A wonderful story that is amazingly compelling, try it. (Debbie, Amazon review)

4 STARS: ...a well written book, and I would recommend it for readers who enjoy more realistic stories with a fair amount of drama, twists and turns – not a clear romantic journey (Lucy OC, Amazon)

And Then That Happened mybook.to/ATTH-Liam_Livings

Hi,
I’m so happy to be taking part in the Rainbow Advent event this year. Thanks so much to Alex Jane for organising it again. I love Christmas (all the sparkle, all the traditions, all the fun, all the friends and family time). I love romance. I love reading. And, against the grain of me not being good at sport, I love skiing. So hopefully I’ve managed to combine most of these in my short story.

If you want to read the other posts from other fabulous authors during the rest of December, please join in the fun, reading and shenanigans at this Facebook group  and here’s the masterpost of all the stories 

I went skiing in Levi with Himself for two years running and the whole thing was simply magical. We had skiing lessons to improve our technique. We watched the Northern Lights. We sat by a log fire sipping the local drink. So I had to write a story inspired by the time we spent in Finland.



Blurb:

Adam's misplaced confidence while skiing in Finland sends him deep into the snow. Will Finnish ski instructor Lukas set aside his decision to stay away from romance after rescuing Adam, or will he let himself be rescued right back?



Lessons in Love in Levi by Liam Livings



December - Levi, Finland



‘Do I need this thermal suit?’ Adam asked.

The Finnish woman at the hire desk smiled. ‘This week it will go to negative 30C. You will need this. It is not an English winter.’ She scanned Adam’s bar code then collected skis, poles and boots the computer had calculated would fit him.

Wearing all the equipment, Adam watched the rest of his singles ski holiday group shuffle onto the carpet ski lift where children got used to the snow on an almost flat nursery run. He shook his head. Sad, ridiculous, like a school ski trip. I’ll show them how it’s done with my perfect parallel turns!

He sneaked away from the group and now faced the gondola lift – metal and clear-plastic bubbles holding up to six passengers, their legs and skis dangling out the bottom of the pods as they rose into the air on the cable overhead.. I can do this – I will do this. He opened the free pack of salted peanuts the male air steward had given him accompanied by a wink and a smile. Kind, but why would anyone flirt with quiet, plain, little Adam?

‘Ready.’ Adam held a thumb up to the lift attendant, grasped his ski poles with the other hand, then ignored the tight sickness in his stomach as the gondola lifted him into the air. What did they say about the colour coding? The black run’s the easiest, then red and I’ll end the week flying down blue runs. I’m sure that’s right.

***

‘Practice those parallel turns!’ Lukas waved to his last pupil, checked his watch. He had a couple of hours until the next one and he wanted to ride the gondola to the top of the hardest black ski slope at the resort alone.

Lukas stepped off the lift, slid in a semicircle to reach the top of the mountain; the slope fell off sharply ahead. Either side of the single-road-width run pine trees stood like sentries, covered in white, branches weighed down with months of snow.

Lukas took a deep breath, smelt the fresh clear air. This view never failed to impress him and he’d been coming to Levi since a teenager, and teaching here for years. Tall snow-covered mountains met the bright blue sky either side of the ski slope. The sun glinted against the snow. His forehead stung in the cold until he pulled his hood up.

Lukas pushed lightly with his poles, bent his knees, leaned forward and pointed his skis downhill. He gathered pace quickly, turning swift parallel turns from left to right to maintain control and avoid other skiers. The tip of his nose numbed as the freezing wind rushed past.

His phone vibrated against his chest in his sky blue Levi Ski School thermal suit’s internal pocket. Turning sharp left, Lukas headed up hill in a wide curve, and gracefully reached a stop next to a snow covered pine tree.

He recognised the number – his day job. ‘Yes?’

His boss apologised six times for calling him on holiday. ‘We can’t find your drawings for the new rear light clusters and headlights for the V50 hatchback. New head of design needs them.’

Lukas explained where to find the drawings he’d finished last week but hadn’t thought would be needed yet. Volvo usually liked to have all the different elements of a face-lifted car ready before presenting to the head of design, but evidently, that had all gone out the safety-glass-window in favour of someone new wanting to make his mark. Lukas breathed through his balaclava, his breath made a long plume of white into the freezing air.

‘I thought you would be eating,’ his manager said.

‘Halfway down a mountain.’ Lukas smiled. ‘I will send you a picture; make you jealous.’

‘A fair trade.’ After a short pause his manager said, ‘Met anyone interesting?’

‘I am not looking. I am looking for the silence of the mountains and the plain white of the snow.’

‘You won’t find a boyfriend like that.’

Lukas laughed. ‘I do not look for one. I only come here for a break from the noise and colour of Helsinki.’

‘Send me the picture, enjoy.’

‘I will.’ Lukas ended the call and quickly replaced the phone into the warmth of his thermal suit to save the battery draining in the cold air.

***

Adam stood at the top of the black run and couldn’t remember being on anything as steep and narrow before. Is this really the next hardest run after the silly nursery slope? Obviously it was the snow distorting distance, steepness, and width. Adam leaned forward and set off downhill. He formed a wide snowplough with his skis to keep himself at a safe speed and concentrated on not falling over.

Safely past the icy top of the slope he pulled to the left of the slightly flatter part and came to a stop in a wide snowplough. Too steep, too abrupt! He toppled and fell uphill, landed on his bum with his legs forming a wide V. One ski detached itself and stopped a few feet away.

A woman who’d been doing fast mini-parallel-turns stopped next to Adam in a sideways curve, spraying him with snow. She pulled her goggles off and rested them on her head, wiped her nose with her sleeve and took a few deep breaths. ‘You OK?’

‘This is the easiest run?’ Adam asked, hoping the woman spoke English.

‘No, this is one of the hardest. I saw someone going so fast he lost control and skied into a tree.’

‘But isn’t it black, red, blue?’ Adam asked.

‘Oh no, it goes, blue, red, black.’

‘I’m half way down the most difficult slope?’ Adam’s throat tightened.

‘A third down. There’s 2km left.’ The woman pulled Adam to his feet then passed him the errant ski. ‘Good luck!’ She pulled her goggles over her eyes then pushed herself downhill with her poles.

‘I can do this.’ Adam pressed his boot hard into the loose ski and smiled at the satisfying click as it locked tight. Because when he considered it, there weren’t any other options except being stretchered down on the back of a snow mobile with a rotating orange light and ambulance horn blaring.

Slowly, almost skiing straight across to the far edge of the slope, Adam set off. He used all his skills to pull off an OK snowplough turn at the edge, then repeated the manoeuvre back to the other side of the slope. I can do do this, as long as I keep to this plan, I’ll soon be at the bottom.

He concentrated on slowing down, leaned forward and widened his snowplough. But the slope was too steep, despite leaning to the left his snowplough turn remained as a snowplough without the turn.

In a white blur of two-foot-deep snow beyond the edge of the run, between pine trees, halfway from the run he’d just left and another, he fell forward, rolling in a four-limbed ball, until he came to an abrupt stop on his back, deep in snow.

Adam checked his four limbs for pain and was relieved to note nothing except soreness. After much shuffling and jiggling he knelt, panted to get his breath back then considered his next move. His looked around and saw his skis and poles scattered far and wide.

He remembered the orientation from the holiday rep, pulled out his mobile phone from the suit’s internal chest pocket, fumbled with his gloves on, removed them, then unlocked the phone. The wind bit into his fingers, they ached and throbbed and didn’t do what he wanted when it came to dialling the numbers.

Emergency Levi, or Levi Emergency - how had he saved the number in his phone?

The second scroll through his contacts showed it was the latter. He pressed the phone icon to connect the call and the screen turned black as it switched itself off, the battery dead.

‘What’s that about?’ His stomach tightened with sickness. It had been at seventy percent when he’d boarded the gondola lift. He pressed the on button but the screen remained black.‘I’m not going to get angry. I’ll remain calm and think this through,’ he said to himself, just as he dropped his gloves out of reach while trying to replace the phone in his pocket.

And then, because he didn’t know what else to do, he simply shouted, ‘Bugger!’ into the cold silent snow-filled air.

***

Lukas had left the long black ski run part way down and was enjoying some cross-country skiing through the less compacted snow between trees that ran in a thin ribbon linking two busy black runs. He knew these cross-country runs as well as the main ones and liked to use them to keep things fresh, and brush up on his off-piste skills. He looked either side and was pleased to note no-one else in sight. He slowed until the only sound was the gently swish of his skis in the snow and his breathing as he braced himself on each turn. Perfect.

He crouched on the approach of a well-worn jump between two pines, ready to spring upright as it launched him into the air. A flash of darkness caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Mid-air Lukas turned to face the darkness and saw an adult laying face up, skis-off, waist-deep in snow, waving arms.

He landed with a thud, turned to the left and slid back towards the stranded person, then he slowly pushed himself uphill towards the skier.

***

Warm relief flooded Adam’s body as a Levi Ski School person stood next to him. ‘It’s my first time here and I thought it was blue, when it was black. I got it the wrong way round. Then my phone died.’

The Ski School person pulled his goggles up, revealing deep blue eyes and a slightly reddened face. ‘Can you move?’ A slight Nordic accent.

Adam nodded.

‘Any pain?’

Adam shook his head and reached forward as the man held out his hand. ‘Adam, thank you.’

‘Lukas, do not worry about it. We cannot have tourists freezing to death out here. Not good for tourism.’ He let out a deep booming laugh.

Lukas collected Adam’s skis and poles in a few long strides through the snow.

Adam leaned on Lukas’ shoulder, attached his skis to his boots with a satisfying click, then shuffle round to face downhill with his poles under one arm.

‘I will ski backwards, you hold onto my pole and snowplough and I get you to the bottom safe and slow.’ Lukas nodded. ‘Do you trust me?’

Adam briefly thought he didn’t have any alternative, then rereading the words on Lukas’ clothes said, ‘Yes.’ He followed the instructions and on the way down enjoyed views of snow-covered mountains either side of the slope, a frozen lake, the snow-topped buildings of Levi at the bottom of the mountain, and Lukas’ smiling square jaw covered in light ginger stubble.

***

In the log cabin café near the bottom of the slope, Lukas settled Adam by the fire in a squashy red leather chair, told him to unzip the top of his thermal suit so he’d feel the fire then left for drinks.

Adam did as asked.

A few minutes later Lukas returned with two hot chocolates and two shots of liquor. ‘These will warm you.’

Adam sipped the alcohol gingerly, pursed his lips and shook his head.

‘In one. We drink it in one in Finland.’ Lukas did so, then shook as the strong alcohol heated his body from inside. ‘Cloudberry. A Finnish delicacy.’

Adam copied Lukas then sipped the hot chocolate while holding his body nearer the fire. He smiled at Lukas.

Lukas removed the top half of his thermal suit and the mid layer to reveal his pale muscled torso and arms barely covered by a blue vest. He wanted to feel the fire’s heat on his skin, and work out where he stood with this sweet shy English man.

Adam stared at Lukas, coughed and blew cream from his hot chocolate then stared at the fire.
Lukas caught Adam looking at him and smiled to himself as he stretched his arms above his head and flexed his pectoral muscles. He felt Adam’s eyes over his body, as hoped. Lukas took Adam’s phone and rested it a few feet from the fire.

Adam drank in silence, watching the fire and his phone.

Lukas expected Adam to start chattering and blathering on about why he’d come skiing and how he’d ended up stranded between two runs, or asking what Lukas was doing with his phone, but pleasingly, Adam said nothing.

After a few minutes of silence Lukas handed the working phone to Adam. ‘Warmth charges the battery.’ Lukas felt Adam’s cold skin, covered it with his other hand and held still, staring into Adam’s deep brown eyes, watching the flames reflected in them. ‘If you like this, there are ski huts all over, where you can stop and sit inside next to a fire. We listen to others telling skiing stories to the fire light. How does that sound?’

Adam nodded, adding his other hand to the pile of their hands. ‘Yes.’

Lukas laughed. ‘Tell me your story.’

***

Adam couldn’t believe this man - all six foot six of Nordic skiing muscles of him - was still holding his hands and not only that, but he wanted to hear about him, Adam, five foot nothing of British featherweight geek. Not knowing where else to start Adam began with the story of the male cabin crew member possibly flirting with him on the flight. He laughed nervously. ‘I don’t know why he was.’

Lukas narrowed his eyes and smiled. ‘I think it would be good for you to have some skiing lessons from me. I do not want to rescue you another time. Once, I think, is enough.’

Adam retrieved his phone and hands. Ah, so this is what all this is about, extracting money out of him. Of course. ‘Thank you, but I can’t afford that. I’ll stick to the nursery slopes from now on.’ He glanced at the wall clock. ‘I won’t keep you any more. I’m sure you’ve got someone to teach.’

‘Free lessons. And by the way, this is flirting, just so you can know.’ Lukas winked then stroked Adam’s forearm.

Adam’s heart beat quickened as he swallowed slowly.‘Right. Message received and understood. I’ll take you for dinner. I don’t know anywhere because I’m all inclusive, but anywhere you want.’ Adam allowed himself a lingering glance of Lukas’ forearms covered in a dusting of ginger hair, following them up to the blue vest that showed most of his chest.

Lukas traced a line with his finger, along Adam’s leg, up his chest, to his face. ‘We can see The Northern Lights from the frozen lake. It is very peaceful.’

‘I’d like that.’ Adam smiled. His first venture onto the black slope could have been a disaster – but it seemed he’d fallen on his feet, or into the arms of Lukas.

This might be the best holiday yet.

The End.



I hope you enjoyed Lukas and Adam’s story. I thought you might like to know some of my backlist stories are all reduced between 12 and 22 December inclusive.


All e-books are 99c and the paperbacks are reduced too. All of the books below are between 25% to 66% reduced in price. I’d love it if you could take this opportunity to sample some of my stories if I’m a new author to you. The links are universal Amazon ones, taking you to your own country’s Amazon store.


And Then That Happened mybook.to/ATTH-Liam_Livings
Wrong Room, Right Guy mybook.to/Wrong_Room_L_Livings
The Guardian Angel mybook.to/Guardian_Angel_Livings
A New Life For Christmas mybook.to/New_Life_Christmas
Marketing the Romance: A jargon free practical guide to marketing for romance authors mybook.to/MarketingTheRomance


Love and light,


Liam xx