Book Title: Christmas Beau
Author and Publisher: Amy Aislin
Cover Artist: Morningstar Ashley Designs
Photography by: Wander Aguiar
Release Date: November 29, 2024
Tense/POV: third person/past tense
Genres: Contemporary M/M Romance
Tropes: Single dad, small town, dog dads, crafty guys, Christmas
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 50 500 words / 220 pages
It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links - Available in Kindle Unlimited
Blurb
Hank Beaufort's life is a mess.
Oh, he looks like he has it all together, but the reality is that he's freshly retired from an unimpressive minor hockey career, and the ink is barely dry on his equally unimpressive second divorce. Now he's the hockey director at the community center in a small town that treats Christmas like Santa Claus is real, and he's not sure his new career is any more impressive than the last. As the new guy in town, he'd be lonely as hell if it weren't for his dogs.
The one spot of brightness?
Scott Jersey, the adorably awkward single dad who brings his son to practice every week.
Hank's not interested in a new relationship so soon after the disaster of the last one, but when doggy play dates lead to real dates, will he be able to set aside his reservations to be someone's Christmas beau after all?
Christmas Falls, Season 2 revisits a small town that thrives on enough holiday charm to rival any Hallmark movie. It's a multi-author M/M romance series.
Excerpt
Hank joined the back of the line for the pet pics, and because his dogs were well-behaved, they sat when he told them to. The man ahead of him was trying to put a headband of felt reindeer antlers onto his Shetland sheepdog, but the dog kept ducking out of the way. It wasn’t until the man stepped into his dog’s space again and grumbled an annoyed “Fallon, will you just hold still for five seconds?” that Hank realized the man was Scott.
Hank’s heart jolted against his ribs.
Teddy, who’d been standing in front of Scott and thus hidden from Hank until Scott moved, spotted Hank and waved a mittened hand. “Hi, Hank.”
Scott whirled, tangling himself up in his dog’s leash. The dog scrambled out of Scott’s way, but in the process of doing so, somehow managed to bump into Scott’s legs.
Scott dropped the reindeer ears. His arms pinwheeled, and his eyes went wide as his body weight went backward. “Whoa!”
Leaping forward, Hank grabbed a fistful of his coat and righted him before he could fall into the couple ahead of him.
“Such a disaster,” Teddy whispered with no small amount of awe, seemingly to himself.
“Are you okay?” Hank asked.
“Talk about a comedy of errors,” Scott said with a laugh, stooping to pick up the reindeer ears. “This definitely isn’t how I imagined you getting your hands on me for the first time.”
Teddy’s jaw dropped.
Hank rolled his lips inward to hide a smile.
Scott went as red as the Santa suit the corgi in line ahead of him was wearing.
“Wow,” Scott said, passing a hand down his face. “And I thought the dog had no game.”
His dog was currently sniffing the butt of Hank’s shy Australian cattle dog. Kinsey looked up at Hank forlornly, his expression a clear why are you letting this happen?
“The dog is Prince Charming by comparison,” Teddy said.
“Hey. Be nice,” Scott chided gently. “Yuri’s up ahead with his mom. Why don’t you go say hi?”
“But I don’t want to miss the next disaster.”
Obviously struggling not to laugh, Scott jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Beat it.”
“Fine.” Teddy’s sigh was long-suffering, but he picked up the backpack at his feet and went.
Hank had wondered about Scott this morning because he hadn’t been at the fair. Instead his quilts had been looked after by a short older lady with white hair cut into a chin-length bob. Hank had noticed Scott greet her warmly yesterday, so Hank could only assume she was his mother.
His presence here explained his absence at the fair, and he looked adorably rumpled with his hair curling out the bottom of his ball cap and the laces of one of his boots halfway untied.
“Yuri is Teddy’s best friend,” Scott told Hank, even though Hank hadn’t asked. “They’ve been thick as thieves for years.” He shoved the reindeer ears in his pocket. “So? What brings you here?”
Amusement tickling the back of his throat, Hank looked down at his dogs. “Pet pics with Santa?”
“Right.” Scott’s laugh was self-deprecating. “Obviously. Us too."
About the Author
Amy’s lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she’s read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she’s been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn’t at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada’s largest environmental non-profit.
An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram, or sign up for her infrequent newsletter.
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Giveaway
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a signed paperback of Christmas Beau