Thursday, November 20, 2014

Cranberries and Spice Blog Hop is Here!

It's a hop and so much fun. 'Tis the season of thanks and giving thanks. I'm thankful I have two pen names--Wendi Zwaduk and Megan Slayer. That means I can write whatever the muse insists. Until this year, I hadn't been able to write a Thanksgiving story. I'm not sure why other than I never put my mind to it. As Megan Slayer, I've written a story about a character who hated the Thanksgiving holiday. He's got a pretty good reason, but can his partner turn his negative thoughts into positives?

Read on, but first, there's a contest. :-) You can win a prize pack, featuring a bracelet/earring set made by me, as well as signed swag and other goodies. Want to win it? Well all you have to do is comment on the post with what you're thankful for, your name and your email. You've got to leave all three because if I can't get in touch with you, I can't let you know if you won. Have fun and on with the excerpt!

Harvest Moon by Megan Slayer  

Moon Series, book 2
Also part of the Bleh! Turkey! Series
MLR Press
Contemporary, Paranormal, Holiday
Short Story
M/M, Anal Sex
What's a guy to do when the time to be with family is the time he dreads the most?


All Matt Green wants for Thanksgiving is to propose to his boyfriend in the most epic way he knows-in front of their families. There's only one catch. His boyfriend, Reed Jordan, doesn't do family gatherings. To be honest, Reed isn't wild about Thanksgiving, but he won't say why.


Matt's willing to do anything in order to get Reed to talk, but will it make the holiday perfect or or ruin all of Matt's plans? The Harvest Moon just might be the right omen to make everything all right.



EXCERPT:
©Megan Slayer, 2014, All Rights Reserved

Reed stood at the counter. He’d told his boyfriend he’d be home at three. The way things were looking, he’d be more than an hour late. Damn it.
Beside him, his co-worker, Jagger, rang up a female customer with a little girl. The woman had bought a couple of Thanksgiving books. The brightly colored turkey and leaves on the top book caught Reed’s attention.
Thanksgiving. He didn’t mind giving thanks for the good things in his life. He also didn’t mind the food. What he hated were the gatherings. He wished the need to bring family to one house was not the rule. Maybe he was losing his mind, but he hated the togetherness. He’d been able to dodge the holiday for the last ten years, but since he’d met Matt, he knew he wasn’t going to get around the festivities for much longer. Matt liked family functions and preferred big parties. Reed wasn’t even sure a big family party was possible.
He finished typing out a reply email to the customer in search of an out-of-print book. Thankfully, the store had the book. He sent the customer the expected price and shipping options. He glanced at his watch once more. Less than two days until Thanksgiving. The store would be open on Wednesday, but he wasn’t working. If the customer needed the book, he could wait until Friday.
The last time he and Matt had talked about the holiday, Matt’s sister, Emily and her boyfriend were supposed to be spending the day with them. He could handle that. He liked Matt’s sister and loved her son, Nattie. Still, he wanted a small dinner, not a gigantic situation. He sighed. At least with Em and Matt, he wasn’t going to have to deal with accusations.
“I’m off until Friday morning,” Reed said to Jagger. “If there is a crisis, call me, but try not to have a crisis.”
“That’s the plan.” Jagger grinned. “You can trust us. We won’t let you down. Now go, so Matt doesn’t think you got lost.”

“Deal.”


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Don't forget to comment and leave the needed information. Good luck! And since you're here, the link list is below so you can keep hopping. Have fun!


13 comments:

Unknown said...

I am most thankful for my family and all of their love, when my family is healthy and happy I am complete. Thanks for this awesome blog hop and Happy Thanksgiving to you and all those you love. Rebecca Ray Rebeccaray72@windstream.net

Natasha Blackthorne said...

Hello Wendi,
Thank you so much for being a host on the hop. Happy Holidays. :)

Unknown said...

I am most thankful for my Fiance' and my children. Even though we won't be able to have a regular Thanksgiving meal, Christmas Meal, or presents for Christmas, they are all understanding. Since I am disabled with no income, and my Fiance' has not worked in over a year (due to a work injury and then they fired him so they would not have to pay him worker's comp) we have no income and are only living on less that $200 in food stamps a month for five people. (Long story) Instead of being upset, my three Children said it was okay, and they would gift each other something they have that they think the other two might want, so they would each have something to open on Christmas morning. My three children and my Fiance' are truly what I am thankful for.

JeanMP said...

I am thankful for my wonderful husband, he is my rock.
Happy Thanksgiving.
skpetal at hotmail dot com

Alina P said...

I'm thankful for my family and my health and great books :)
alinutza4u2004[at]yahoo[dot]co[dot]uk

carly said...

I am thankful for my kids! carly wood carlywood@comcast.net

Belinda G said...

I'm just thankful to be able to get up each morning. My health is better and I feel good. I'm also thankful for my children and grandkids. They ground me. I feel good that they are all doing well. The holidays make you really think about those things and appreciate them more.

Thanks for the opportunity to share.

Belinda G
belgre at centurylink dot net

LorettaLynn//Temprance said...

I am Thankful for Family and Friends and all my loved ones. :)

Thank you for being part of this great Blog Hop..

LorettaLynn
elliott2668(at)Yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said...

I am thankful for my family but also for the new job I just got. It was much needed and is such a great place to work. Thank you for being part of the hop.

j.m.platt83@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I'm thankful for the good health and happiness of my family and friends.

Thanks for the amazing giveaway!
elizabeth @ bookattict . com

Anne said...

Honestly, I'm thankful for the extra 6 days off with pay for the holiday season. Even after just having Thanksgiving and Black Fri. off, I can hardly wait for the next 4 days off. I am so tired.

acm05atjuno.com

Juana said...

I am thankful for my mom everyday that I spend with her is a blessing.

Juana Esparza

jmesparza821 at gmail dot com

Wendi Zwaduk and Megan Slayer said...

And my winner is....Carly Wood!

I've emailed you off loop. Thank you to everyone who commented and stopped by. I appreciate your patronage and hope you found some great new reads. :-) Stop back at any time!