After graduating
from high school early, twenty-year-old Philippe Bergeron spent the past
several years lost among the stars while fishing off the New England coast. A
shoulder injury ends his dream of living reclusively on the water, and he finds
himself lost among the bright lights of New York City. His older brother,
Henri, has asked Philippe to chaperone his seventeen-year-old niece, Sophie, on
her tours of the city's legendary dance programs.
Sophie meets with
professional dancer and choreographer, Dario Pereira, to prepare a routine for
her college auditions. Dario’s cool perfection and immaculate style contrast
with Philippe’s awkward scruffiness, but it wakes desires Philippe thought he’d
left behind. When the attraction is surprisingly returned, Dario’s confidence
won’t let Philippe remain invisible. Unsure but curious, Philippe relaxes his
rule of isolation, and as the summer progresses, his relationship with Dario
leads him to a surprising discovery of his submissive sexual tendencies and a
greater sense of self-awareness.
Tragedy threatens
to destroy the connections Philippe has made and forces him to retreat into the
shadows of his past, far from the radiance of Dario’s love. Ultimately, he must
decide if it is time to stop hiding and set himself free.
Excerpt:
After drinking down
the rest of his tea, he asked me, “So what’s your story, Philippe?”
“My story?”
“Yes. Tell me… I
want to know.”
Dario had a
commanding presence. I realized that as I started to spill out the abbreviated
story of my life. “I don’t have much of a story, really. Took online and summer
classes so I could graduate high school early, and as soon as I turned eighteen
the winter before last, I got a job cod fishing out of Gloucester, Mass and
fished for well over a year.”
“How did you end up
in New York City with Sophie?”
“I ask myself that
every day.” I grinned. “No, seriously, the official story is that I messed up
my shoulder and I needed to take some time off fishing to heal it. The real
deal is that I’m one of my brother’s ongoing projects.” Under my beard, once
again, my cheeks burned. “And he’s relentless.”
“One of his
projects?”
“Yeah… Sophie and
me.”
“How are you two
his ‘projects’?”
To buy myself some
time to figure out how I was going to phrase my answer, I wiped at my beard
with the paper napkin in my hand. “He thinks that if he doesn’t get all up in
our business, we’ll turn into hermits.”
Up until that very
moment with Dario, only Henri had ever searched my face as if what he saw there
really mattered. “Is he correct in that theory?”
I had to laugh.
“I’d say he’s right on the money.”
“Then how did you
end up here? This is about as far from the peaceful beauty of the ocean as it
gets.”
“I needed a summer
job; Henri needed a New York City chaperone for Sophie. It’s that simple.”
Book
Links:
About
the Author:
Mia Kerick is the
mother of four exceptional children—all named after saints—and five
nonpedigreed cats—all named after the next best thing to saints, Boston Red Sox
players. Her husband of twenty years has been told by many that he has the
patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about that, as it is a sensitive subject.
Mia focuses her
stories on the emotional growth of troubled men and their relationships, and
she believes that sex has a place in a love story, but not until it is firmly
established as a love story. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with
romantic tales of tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble
lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for
safekeeping. She is thankful to Dreamspinner Press for providing her with an
alternate place to stash her stories.
Mia is proud of her
involvement with the Human Rights Campaign and cheers for each and every
victory made in the name of marital equality. Her only major regret: never
having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life
consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of
Technology.
My themes I always write about:
Sweetness. Unconventional love, tortured/damaged heroes- only love can save
them.
Author Links:
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