The Sweetest Trouble

By Kari Kilgore

The Best Kind of Trouble

 

Josh finally brings his dream job in his dream city to life. Along with a sad stab of reality. His boyfriend stayed back home.

 

Keith makes a stop in his adventurous life, in a city he loves. Searching for a true connection that goes heart-deep.

 

Sparks fly the second they meet.

 

Will Josh and Keith find the excitement and the certainty they both crave, together?

 

An excerpt from The Sweetest Trouble:

"Is this gardening thing voluntary? Or all the new residents assigned a turn, like chores?"

Keith turned and blinked, then smiled. This wasn't one of the informal garden committee. For one thing, nice as they were, none of them looked anywhere near this good.

Mystery Guy stood a little shorter than Keith, with thick brown hair standing up in the most adorable bed head mess. 

Strong, but not gym machine strong. Actual activity and getting out and doing things strong. Keith's favorite.

"Well, I just got here last night," Keith said. "So I'm not sure if garden duty is only for me or for everyone new. They haven't told me all the rules yet. I think they do that on purpose to keep the new folks off-balance."

Mystery Guy grinned and held out a big, square hand. 

"We'll have to stick together, then.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Spiral Publishing, Ltd
• Release date: Apr 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393325833

Kari Kilgore

Kari Kilgore started her first published novel Until Death in Transylvania, Romania, and finished it in Room 217 at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, where Stephen King got the idea for The Shining. That’s just one example of how real world inspiration drives her fiction. Kari’s first published novel Until Death was included on the Preliminary Ballot for the Bram Stoker Award for Outstanding Achievement in a First Novel in 2016. It was also a finalist for the Golden Stake Award at the Vampire Arts Festival in 2018. Recent professional short story sales include three to Fiction River anthology magazine, with the first due out in the September issue. Kari also has two stories in a holiday-themed anthology project with Kristine Kathryn Rusch due out over the holidays in 2019. Kari writes fantasy, science fiction, horror, and contemporary fiction, and she’s happiest when she surprises herself. She lives at the end of a long dirt road in the middle of the woods with her husband Jason Adams, various house critters, and wildlife they’re better off not knowing more about. Kari’s novels, novellas, and short stories are available at www.spiralpublishing.net, which also publishes books by Frank Kilgore and Jason Adams. For more information about Kari, upcoming publications, her travels and adventures, and random cool things that catch her attention, visit www.karikilgore.com.

Book preview

The Sweetest Trouble

For Jason

---

Who shares my love of adventure

and of staying home

The Sweetest Trouble

Kari Kilgore

Spiral Publishing, Ltd.

Chapter 1

Josh Waldron wandered barefoot around his new temporary apartment, counting his steps, listening to the echoes in the nearly empty space. Wondering how long it would take to feel like home.

The relocation agency had done an amazing job finding this place—a beautifully converted factory loft not far from downtown Atlanta.

Mellow hardwood floors throughout, salvaged from an old school gym. Concrete countertops in the kitchen and baths, all inset with old skeleton keys and bits of stained glass and gears and springs rescued from the factory.

The non-stinky paint they’d used lived up to its name. The only thing he smelled was the lemongrass of his own deodorant.

Close to the MARTA transit line that would take Josh on a quick ride to his new job in a couple of days. Plenty of parking under the building for those unlucky enough to have to dive into the whirlpool of traffic every morning and evening.

The builders had managed to retain the retro-cool vibe of the hundred-year-old brick building while bringing in touches of pure modern. Josh had already taken himself from the third floor upstairs to the roof to see the huge array of solar panels and solar water-heating tanks, perfect for an already hot and sunny mid-May in Georgia.

From what he’d heard and read,