Debut: Love Stories, #1

By Casey Ashwood

"You're worth taking a chance for."

Ryan Winters is a single father trying to move on with his life and provide for his young family. Unhappy with his day job, he dreams of one day becoming an author, although getting the stories from his head onto the screen is proving to be hard. Also, how is he supposed to write romance when he hasn't been with anyone in years?

He'd rather have romps than roses any day.

Jett Rose is a well-known romance writer that loves wine, cats, and being in the limelight. Although he writes about passionate relationships convincingly enough on paper, his real-life romantic life leaves much to be desired. He realizes that he needs a change, but is he really ready to leave bachelorhood behind?

That's a man trying to win your heart.

When Ryan and Jett meet at a seminar for the first time, sparks fly. To help get Ryan's budding career off the ground, Jett takes him under his wing. While Ryan struggles to strengthen his writing skills, he also struggles with this newfound attraction to Jett. Can they work together to turn their romance story into a reality?

Debut is a gay romance novel. It is the first novel in the "Love Stories" series but can stand alone. It has a happily ever after ending with no cliffhanger.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Casey Ashwood
• Release date: Feb 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386854920

Casey Ashwood

Casey Ashwood is a gay romance author who was born and raised in Canada before moving to the UK to chase romantic rainy days. He has always had a passion for writing, although it took years before he made it his career. His romance stories center around dramatic tension, steamy encounters, and happy endings. When he's not writing about tantalizing trysts, he's busy traveling Europe or cuddling his two cats. He is also passionate about art, aquariums, and gaming. [e-mail]

Book preview

1

Ryan

Dad! I want more macaroni !"

Ryan rubbed his temples as he looked over from his desk at his oldest son, Alex. Sitting beside Alex and a pile of toys in the living room was Ryan's youngest son, Liam. At seven and four, the two were a handful, especially when Ryan was trying to get work done from home.

Okay, just give Daddy five more minutes, okay? Ryan said as he turned back to his laptop. That pure white document onscreen was mocking him.

Alex pouted in the background, but Ryan was relieved when the kids went quiet and gave him some peace. After just one minute, though, Ryan knew that he wasn't going to get any further with the task at hand. No, that cursor just kept blinking away as his mind drew a blank.

It was so hard to find the motivation to write when he was just so tired all of the time. His shift work at a local home security center took a lot out of him because of the mix of hours. He worked every kind of shift imaginable: days, evenings, overnights, weekends. The shifts not only left him exhausted, but kept him from spending quality time with his kids as well. As it were, he depended a lot on his mother to babysit.

With a light sigh, Ryan closed his laptop and smiled while rising to his feet. Okay, boys, let's get you some more macaroni, he announced as he walked with them into the kitchen.

Ryan Winters was a single father whose life revolved around his children, even if work got in the way. When his wife, Carly, passed away over three years ago, his life was thrown upside down. It was only now that he was finally able to try and get his life back on track for him and the boys.

A quick glance to his phone told him that was running late. He was stressing out so much over the writing that time flew by. It wasn't long before his mother, Diana, would be over and taking care of the kids as he went in for an overnight shift. Somehow, no matter how much Ryan tried to slow down time, it just sped up all the more. His children were growing up so fast, and he was missing time spent with them because of trying to pay the bills that only seemed to get higher each month.

But now things were going to change.

That is, if he could ever get the words he wanted out of his head and onto paper.

Ryan plopped more macaroni from the saucepan onto the boys' dishes. Okay, eat up. Grandma will be here soon.

Dad, why do you work so much? Alex asked. Although it was asked in a curious tone, the fact that he asked it at all tore through Ryan.

So that we can keep living a good life, Ryan answered as he washed up what few dishes he could. Even as he said it, he hated it. Spending quality time together with his family was more important than buying material things. Still, it wasn't like he could drop everything and put them in the poorhouse either.

But I'm trying to get a new job where I can work at home and be with you guys more, he followed up with, smiling lightly over his shoulder.

Alex and Liam both noticeably brightened up with this revelation, forks of macaronis stuffed in their faces. That hopefulness and excitement strengthened Ryan's resolve all the more even if it also added another level of stress.

He had to make this writing thing work. Not only for his kids, but for himself as well.

It was time to make drastic changes but where to begin?

There was a knock at the door and Ryan dried his hands and hurried to let his mother in. Hey, he greeted as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. Diana was an amazing woman. Even though she very much had her own life, and was involved with so many community clubs, she still always made time for him and the kids. She and Ryan had always been close, as she had been a single mother and he an only child.

Hi, dear! Diana greeted, though was then distracted by the grandchildren rushing over to greet her. Hello, boys. How are you?

Good, Alex said, seemingly answering for the both of them since Liam never truly spoke much. Dad's trying to write a story.

A story? Diana asked, her eyes twinkling with curiosity.

Ah, look at the time! I've got to run, Ryan announced as he grabbed his jacket and boots. The last thing he wanted to do right now was get into his future plans with his mother. He wanted to tell her about it properly once he had things underway. Perhaps he wanted to keep it mostly to himself right now so that he wouldn't feel as guilty if things didn't pan out.

He leaned down to give Alex and Liam a hug and a kiss on the cheek. See you guys tomorrow. Be good. Love you.

Love you, too, both boys responded in chorus.

Don't think I'm letting you get away about that story, Diana lightly chided Ryan.

You'll hear all about it soon enough, Ryan promised before heading out.

Once he arrived at work, he clocked in and headed to his station. All around him, people were immersed in their work—although some admittedly were less immersed than others. It wasn't a bad place to work and Ryan had already been there for years. He just figured by now he'd have better shifts, but he somehow always still got stuck with less-than-favorable schedules.

As he settled in and began work, images of that blank screen kept coming back to haunt him. He tried to shake it from his mind since it'd be no good for him to stress out now. There was nothing he could do while at work except take down quick notes of ideas. Between calls, he got plenty of ideas, but he was having a hard time putting them down into actual stories.

It was only now that he noticed he was staring across the work floor at a couple of coworkers that were clearly together. A man and a woman, whose work stations were right next to each other's, were clearly in the initial stages of dating. Ryan had to admit that they were cute as they shared warm smiles and played footsie between calls. See, it was that kind of thing he needed to write about, but he wasn't entirely sure what was holding him back. Maybe it was because, although the couple were cute and would be great in a romance book, Ryan still wasn't feeling it.

Meanwhile, the two guys that kept making eye contact with each other every time they passed each other's stations... Even right now, Ryan's attention immediately snapped to them. The taller guy even brushed his hand along the back of the shorter guy's chair as he walked by with a fresh cup of coffee. Even though words weren't exchanged, Ryan's skin tingled at the way they simply looked at each other.

When one of the guys, perhaps sensing he was being stared at, looked over in Ryan's direction, Ryan quickly swiveled around in his chair and stared hard at his computer screen. He felt guilty at having been caught staring, but he couldn't help it. Seeing them interacting with one another stirred old thoughts and feelings within him that he buried years ago.

He shook his head to try and rid himself of those thoughts. He had enough to worry about now as it were.

Even so, he still couldn't help but to cast one more peek in the guys' direction. Although there was no physical touch, the smiles they exchanged were so pure and beautiful. When the tall guy finally drew away to return to his work station, Ryan was suddenly hit with something he'd been struggling with for years:

Loneliness.

2

Jett

There's nothing like the smell of a bookstore. Older bookstores had that familiar, musty smell to them that was like a warm blanket for Jett Rose. He had fond memories of spending hours at a small secondhand bookstore in his hometown. The owner, a kindly old man known as Mr. Daniels, never bothered him. Perhaps he liked the idea of young people losing themselves in the smooth pages of old books with bent spines. It probably didn't hurt that Jett often spent his whole weekly allowance there as well .

Newer bookstores, like the massive chains, still held a special place in Jett's heart, too. While they didn't have quite the same smell and almost magical aura, walking in through the doors always made Jett's heart pound.

Today, when he walked through the doors of a five-story bookstore filled to the brim with every reader's desire, it was not as a customer but a special guest.

Jett made his living off writing steamy romances. Although he started his career writing straight romance, he eventually added gay romance to his catalogue as well. As a pansexual man, this crossover allowed him to introduce more characters and themes to his audience that were relevant to him.

The turnout for his book signing that spring afternoon was impressive. He had a strong following on social media, so people tended to flock to him wherever he was. With his playboy attitude, devilish good lucks, and his affinity for taking aesthetically-pleasing Instagram pictures, there was no shortage of fans.

As he sat behind the table with several pens and an espresso, his dark eyes scanned the long line of people before him clutching books for him to sign. Despite having gone to many of these, the energy in the air never grew old. Each excitable and nervous person reminded Jett that they were the reason why he wrote.

Once the event coordinator, a young woman with blonde hair and a pencil skirt, gave the go, it was down to business.

For the next hour or so, Jett signed the books presented to him. He made eye contact with each and every person, wanting to make the mere moments together as personable as possible. There were so many people that Jett would have definitely taken home if he had seen them at a local bar.

As the signing session drew close to its end, Jett's hand was cramped and his espresso cup was long empty. There were still about a dozen more people left to sign books for. Although Jett was getting tired, he kept his energy up. After all, he wanted to make a great impression with each and every one of his fans.

As Jett grabbed a new pen because the other had run out of ink, a young man, probably a few years younger than himself, shakily approached him. Jett was more than used to the nervous types so he tried to be as welcoming as possible with soft eyes and a smile. Sure, even his face hurt now from smiling so much but he kept it up.

The young man handed him a copy of one of his gay romances, Second Kiss. It was one of his later works that was really sappy. Too sappy for Jett’s personal liking, but the fans ate it up. Perhaps they liked the change from his normally more action-packed romances.

Hello, Jett greeted warmly as he held out his hand for the book. Who am I writing this out to?

George. My name is George, the young man insisted, his hands shaking as he passed the book to Jett. "I know you hear it all the time, but I really just wanted to tell you that I love your work. This book especially."

As Jett opened the book to write on the inside of the cover, he paused and glanced back up to George. Yeah, people told him that they liked his work all the time. There was something about the way George spoke that grabbed his attention, though.

Thank you. What do you like about this book?

George's cheeks flushed pink. "I-I really like all of your other books, too, but this one spoke to me. The struggles that Ashley and Kendall had to work through together just… got to me. They were just so sweet but strong, too. I really felt their love. I think out of all your books, I felt the chemistry here the most."

Jett touched the tip of his ballpoint pen to the page but didn't start writing. It was this lovey-dovey couple that spoke to George the most? Is this what the other fans felt, too? Did he really hit the sweet spot for romance with this title despite not being a particularly romantic man himself? Jett honestly thought a lot of courting rituals were nonsense. He'd rather have romps than roses any day.

Thank you, was all Jett could say in that moment as he signed the book. When he handed it back, George took it and beamed.

Thank you so much... I hope you write a followup soon!

As George moved away, allowing the next person in line to have their turn, Jett couldn’t help but glance after him, forehead wrinkling as his eyebrows drew down. Times like this reminded him that his work did sometimes really speak to people. Like George, there were people that were given hope by seeing healthy, beautiful relationships representing them.

Then why was Jett doing the exact opposite of that in real life if he wrote relationships convincingly enough on paper?

He gave his head a little shake, smoothing his face back into a neutral smile. He didn't have time to dwell on that idea as he got back to work signing the rest of the books. It was even harder now to concentrate on the last few people, but he did his best, wanting to thank everyone for their time.

Once the signing was done, Jett took his leave. As he climbed into his Tesla, he debated what he wanted to do for the rest of the evening. Under any other circumstance, he would've headed out to the nearest club to see if he could find someone to hook up with. Tonight, though, something inside of him had shifted, even if he couldn't yet pinpoint what it was.

Maybe tonight he would go home and reread Second Kiss. If it spoke to George, maybe it would speak to him, too. After all, he wrote the thing. Maybe something buried in his own text could help him see where he was going wrong in