A Novel Christmas

by Lynsey M. Stewart

  Let Me Be Your Last

  Gem Brown had it all. A successful husband, two gorgeous boys, and a life mapped out. Until doubt started to creep in.

  Suspicion can drive you mad.

  But suspicion can also prove you right.

  The day Gem found her husband teetering on the edge of ecstasy, his mistress on her knees before him, provided her with…clarity. She would never trust a man again.

  But four years later, through the strength of friendship and the love of her kids, Gem feels ready to start taking chances.

  And then comes Josh. He’s a match made in heaven (or was it Loveisintheair.com?). Epic dates, swoon-worthy grand gestures, and a promise of happiness threaten to test her never-trust-a-man-again mantra.

  But is Gem ready to fall in love again? Will Gem and Josh ever start testing the theory that high levels of sexual tension often lead to earth shifting sex? Can Josh help her to heal old wounds, or will ghosts of the past fail to let her go?

  Stripped Bare

  I couldn’t deny that seeing my ex-boyfriend jiggling his junk in the face of an ecstatic bride-to-be was a complete mind hump.

  I didn’t normally get giddy over strippers, but this wasn’t any ordinary stripper. Ethan was my childhood friend, my teenage crush, the boy that featured in all of my firsts.

  We had made a childhood pact. If we didn’t find the right person to lose our virginity to by the time we reached eighteen we would be each other’s first.

  First kiss, first love…

  First heartbreak.

  We had been apart for three years.

  I had forgotten how glorious he was. I watched him grind his hips to the music, creating a dance with the woman in front of him. But after the rip of Velcro, his thong thrown in my direction, his eyes finally focused…on me.

  Who knew being whiplashed by a sequinned thong would lead to a moment of clarity? It was time to start questioning everything that happened between us until I was left feeling bare.

  Stripped bare.

  Stripped Bare is a 30,000 word novella. If you like them long and meaty, this book may not be for you. Or depending on the context…maybe it is.

  Sliding Home

  I was flying high with the Florida Falcons until an injury completely changed my life. Playing baseball had been my dream since I was a kid and, America couldn’t get enough of the Brit who’d made it to the big leagues. The game was my world, but suddenly I couldn't do it anymore. I was bored. I was frustrated. So I filled the void.

  Sex was an easy answer for a pro ball player with an English accent, and soon my misdemeanours were splashed across the tabloids. Now I was a bad joke, a sleazy internet meme, a washed-up third-baseman who enjoyed playing with women more than playing the game.

  I was given an ultimatum: go home to England and turn things around, or face being dropped. My reputation had been knocked out of the park for the final time. I needed a lifeline.

  And then she showed up. An obstacle in my path struggling with a suitcase.

  Jess tempted me before I’d even left the States. But there was something more. She intrigued me. Could the actress with the knockout smile help turn my life around?

  I offered her a business arrangement she couldn’t refuse. No complications. No distractions. What could possibly go wrong?

  Sliding Home is a novella that was originally featured in Rounding Third: A Baseball Anthology.