Kneading You: A Lancaster Story, #1

By C.S. Poe

Christopher Hughes is new to the small New England town of Lancaster, New Hampshire. He's been hired to save an old library from closing, but his obstacles include not only fighting for state funding, but a Selectman who wants to tear the building down in favor of a shopping center. Christopher is introduced to Miles Sakasai, a charming tattooed repairman on site to restore the historical interior of the building. Working in close proximity has both men falling hard for each other. It also provides Christopher with an opportunity to learn about Miles's passion for baking.

 

And as it turns out, Miles's skills in the kitchen may end up being the key to saving the library—but only if his bread can rise to the occasion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Emporium Press
• Release date: Mar 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952133121

C.S. Poe

C.S. Poe is a Lambda Literary and two-time EPIC award finalist, and a FAPA award-winning author of gay mystery, romance, and speculative fiction. She resides in New York City, but has also called Key West and Ibaraki, Japan home in the past. She has an affinity for all things cute and colorful and a major weakness for toys. C.S. is an avid fan of coffee, reading, and cats. She’s rescued two cats—Milo and Kasper do their best to distract her from work on a daily basis. C.S. is an alumna of the School of Visual Arts. Her debut novel, The Mystery of Nevermore, was published 2016. cspoe.com

Book preview

Kneading You

by

C.S. Poe

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

Kneading You

Copyright © 2016, 2019, 2020 by C.S. Poe

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law. For permission requests and all other inquiries, contact: [e-mail]

Published by Emporium Press

https://www.cspoe.com

[e-mail]

Cover Art by Reese Dante

Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

Published 2020.

First Edition published 2016. Second Edition 2019. Third Edition 2020.

Printed in the United States of America

Digital eBook ISBN: 978-1-952133-12-1

Kneading You

By: C.S. Poe

Christopher Hughes is new to the small New England town of Lancaster, New Hampshire. He’s been hired to save an old library from closing, but his obstacles include not only fighting for state funding, but a Selectman who wants to tear the building down in favor of a shopping center. Christopher is introduced to Miles Sakasai, a charming tattooed repairman on site to restore the historical interior of the building. Working in close proximity has both men falling hard for each other. It also provides Christopher with an opportunity to learn about Miles’s passion for baking.

And as it turns out, Miles’s skills in the kitchen may end up being the key to saving the library—but only if his bread can rise to the occasion.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

While each book in A Lancaster Story can be read as a standalone, occasional crossover of characters does occur. Check out each title in the series to fully enjoy all of the residents of Lancaster, New Hampshire.

CHAPTER ONE

I rushed up the slippery steps of Lancaster’s old library to greet the portly man awaiting me. I’m sorry I’m late. I held a hand out. Christopher Hughes. It’s a pleasure.

Logan Fields, the man said, shaking with an unnecessarily firm grip. I’m on the town’s Board of Selectmen. I’m in charge of overseeing our library crisis. Come on inside. He turned around, used an old skeleton key to unlock the front door, and led the way into the dim interior.

I had recently moved to the charming town of Lancaster, New Hampshire. No more than ten years ago, they’d outgrown the title of village—everyone was very proud, I was told. I’d spent most of my life in suburbs in the more populated, southern portion of the state. And while it was nice and convenient, I’d always dreamed of living in a small community where folks all knew one another and there was a real sense of closeness.

I’d certainly found it here.

But not a job.

That was a rather elusive beast.

But such was the way of life in these tiny blips on the map. There were not a lot of job openings on a consistent basis, and so far my options were part-time clerk at the gas station, part-time bagger at the grocery store, or nada. Although I had a college degree, studies in nineteenth-century literature didn’t get you far in a town that required more practical services. I’d been ready to become a bagger too, if it meant paying the