Sterling for Christmas

By D.J. Manly

Derek left his small town in Ontario, Canada five years ago to become a big New York City editor. He also left Sterling, a man he loved but couldn’t commit to. Derek decides it’s time to go home for Christmas, to reconnect with his sister and nephew, and his parents, who are getting older.

Sterling is still there, running the magazine they started together, in a house that they were supposed to share. And, still treated like a member of Derek’s family. Sterling is coming for Christmas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc
• Release date: Dec 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781554877492

D.J. Manly

D.J. Manly is first and foremost a writer, but is also a college professor, a small business operator and a sociologist who works as a consultant on research projects. D.J. is a proud Canadian who lives in French Canada, and speaks both English and French. Human rights are a great concern, and D.J. longs for a peaceful world free of sexism, racism, and homophobia. D.J. writes for the pure love of writing, and always with the reader in mind. If D.J. doesn't enjoy reading it, it won't be written. Great characters, great sex and a great love are the elements you’ll find in D.J’s work. There is nothing quite as exciting as beautiful men falling in love. Come taste D.J’s work, but be careful, you may become as addicted to reading it, as D.J. is to writing it. One reviewer said of Manly’s work that reading it can give you “…third degree burns in an air conditioned room…” I think that says it all.

Book preview

Derek left his small town in Ontario, Canada five years ago to become a big New York City editor. He also left Sterling, a man he loved but couldn’t commit to. Derek decides it’s time to go home for Christmas, to reconnect with his sister and nephew, and his parents, who are getting older.

Sterling is still there, running the magazine they started together, in a house that they were supposed to share. And, still treated like a member of Derek’s family. Sterling is coming for Christmas.

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Sterling For Christmas

Copyright © 2010 D.J Manly

ISBN: 978-1-55487-749-2

Cover art by Martine Jardin

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by eXtasy Books

Look for us online at:

www.eXtasybooks.com

Smashwords Edition

Sterling For Christmas

By

D.J Manly

Dedication

To Second Chances

Chapter One

It would be nice to come home this year, nice to just close the door on my office and leave it all behind. I haven’t had the luxury of doing that in the last five years. The Christmas holidays to me usually consisted of attending the office party, having anonymous sex with some guy I’d picked up in a bar, and then calling my family on Christmas day to chat about nonsense.

I said my goodbyes to various employees as I walked past the cubicles that were decorated with a variety of Christmas paraphernalia. The tinsel and the little Christmas cat with the red felt Santa hat didn’t grate on me this time. I actually smiled when I saw it.

Susie Brooks fell into step beside me as I headed to the elevator. She was assistant editor at In the Know, a current events magazine which centered on New York City living. Susie would carry the ball while I was away. I envy you, you dog. Three whole weeks! We had a poll you know. Most people said you’d never do it.

Really? Which way did you vote?

On you, of course, Derek, she batted her eyes comically. I wouldn’t vote against the boss.

Very tactful, I leaned down and kissed her cheek.

She actually blushed. You’re going to miss the Christmas party, she said, seeming a little flustered.

Yes, well, damn, I snapped my fingers, exaggerating the gesture, you’ll just have to save up all the stories about people photocopying their asses, and screwing in the supply room, until I get back.

She laughed. Oh I will.

The elevator opened. I stepped onto it, waved my hand and then watched it all disappear.

I had moved to New York City from my home town of Goderich, Ontario in the summer of 2005 when I was offered a chance to head up In the Know. I was already running my own magazine, a political science quarterly called Trendy, which was primarily an internet-based magazine with a very small print distribution to the neighbouring communities in Huron County. I had managed to employ three people and practically run it on steam. I wasn’t rich but I was scraping out a living. I had no idea that the publisher of In the Know was looking for a new editor, and that he’d been watching my progress with great interest.

When Kenneth Denson showed up on the doorstep of my small, cramped office one day, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had heard of him, of course. He had launched several successful magazines over the years, and had made In the Know a household necessity for open minded intellectuals all over North America and even into some parts of Europe.

My health is not good, he told me as we sat down over coffee at my cluttered desk in the basement of the town library. "It’s time to slow down. I’ve invested a lot of effort in this magazine. It has been my pet project really, and I don’t want just anyone to take it over. I have watched you, and you remind me of myself at your age. I want you, Derek, to take over In the Know."

I was flattered, speechless really, especially when he explained to me what moving to New York City would entail. I would have a salary that I could have never even imagined, a company car, a penthouse apartment, and a senior editor position. New York

Reviews for Sterling for Christmas

[serenayates · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such a perfect, highly romantic Christmas story. To have a reunion happen five years after one left for 'the big city', with both men still pretty much hung up on each other was a treat to read.

Of course Derek, the idiot who left, takes his own sweet time not just realizing but admitting his mistake. And when he takes the first step, he is surprised that Sterling holds back. But when he finally gets it - boy, do the sparks fly!

Sterling, on the other hand, supported by Derek's entire family, is just the sweetest guy ever. Yes, he could have made Derek work harder for it, but that's just not who he is. I really felt for him, and loved that he finally got what he wanted most.

The 'conspiracy', the hockey references and the descriptions of small town life were just icing on the cake. This is a great holiday read, extremely romantic without being too sweet. I loved it!