Celebrate World Naked Gardening Day with five gay romance novellas!
The Naked Gardening Day stories are a collaboration between Holly Day, Nell Iris, A.L. Lester, K.L. Noone, and Amy Spector. They comprise five MM romance novellas featuring being naked in a garden somehow, somewhere, to mark World Naked Gardening Day on the first Saturday of May.
Contains the stories:
Perfect Rows by Holly Day: Everything would've been perfect if Grayson hadn't been forced to share his garden with Cam. Grayson wants to grow vegetables, and he has a plan for how to do it. Cam loves flowers in perfect rows, but Grayson is incapable of growing things in lines. Most days end in conflict, at least until Grayson realizes he can shut Cam up by kissing him. But will they ever be able to agree about the garden?
Strike a Pose by Nell Iris: Didrik would do anything for his BFF Filip, including taking naked pictures for a charity calendar of his dad Johan, the stunning man responsible for Didrik’s gay awakening. Now a widower, Johan is ready to move on. As they start the project, the attraction between them grows. Their connection is easy, but not without challenges. Will they get their happily ever after?
The Death of Digby Catch by Amy Spector: When August Catch arrives at the Arachne’s Loom estate to collect his late Uncle Digby’s things, he is thrown together with Theo Webb, the heir to the Webb family fortune. The attraction is instant. When Theo begins to suspect Digby may have been murdered, he and August will need to work together to discover the killer, and not let the thing growing between them be a distraction.
The Hermit of Aldershill Manor by K.L. Noone: Charlie’s ready to start a new job and life at Aldershill Manor. As a historian, he’s thrilled to dive into the archives. And he can run from a messy break-up. And explore lovely gardens, too. Lionel does not like tourists, conversations, or social niceties. But he loves his job: helping beauty grow. When he finds the new historian caught in a storm, he offers shelter, which might bloom into more.
Warning! Deep Water by A.L. Lester: Spring 1947. England has just come through the worst winter in living memory. Peter’s been drifting since he left the army a year ago. George is lonely, despite the busy horticultural nursery he owns. Peter’s decision to take a swim in the irrigation tank presents them both with the chance to reach out and help each other. Can two misfits find a way to fit together with someone after all?
EXCERPT FROM "Perfect Rows" by Holly Day:
“Have you decided?”
Cam jumped at the voice coming from behind. He looked over his shoulder and took in the black, paint-stained work pants hanging low on Grayson’s hips and a tight-fitting white T-shirt. He had white paint on his arm and some splatter on the back of his hand.
“Decided what?” Cam straighten his back, prepared to be growled at again.
“Which beds you want.”
He rolled his eyes. “Do we need to divide them? Can’t you be civilized about this?”
“I could if you weren’t destroying everything. I want to grow food, real food, but you keep pulling up my plants.” And the growling was on.
Cam gritted his teeth. He could see the allure of growing some vegetables, he could, but Grayson was talking vegetables everywhere. Cam wanted to be able to walk out into the garden after a long day at work and soak up the sweet scent of blooming plants, watch the colors, and hear the bees buzz around.
“Fine, we’ll divide them.”
Grayson nodded. “Good. Good. I’ve eh ... I’ve already --” He narrowed his eyes as he looked out over the raised beds. “I’ve already planted garlic with the strawberries --”
“You’re saying you should have the strawberries?” Camden put his hands on his hips and glared at Grayson. He wanted strawberries too.
Grayson sighed. “No, take the strawberries, but don’t pull up the garlic.”
“If it’s my bed, I can do what I want to.”
Grayson’s jaw tensed. “Fine. Mark up the ones you want.” He swung around, his feet slammed against the ground with far more force than necessary, and Cam winced. He could’ve handled that better.
He took a step in the direction of Grayson’s house but stopped himself. It had been a long day, a long week, and he’d walked out into the garden to clear his mind, not to fight with Grayson.
Walking along the raised beds he wondered how they’d divide them fairly. They weren’t the same size and some had permanent trellises. He assumed Grayson had put them there. They’d been there before he’d moved in, but Grayson had helped Frances a lot, and putting in rebar grid trellises seemed like a Grayson thing to do. He didn’t mind much, he might have preferred something more decorative -- like the arched ones in the garden center -- but once the plants were climbing, you didn’t see much of the rough metal.
Camden walked on, noting where some of his favorite perennials grew. The problem was that Grayson had planted things around them. Radishes, or was it some kind of turnip or something? Cam couldn’t tell by looking at the leaves, and he wasn’t going to pull one up. Grayson had told him he was welcome to grab what he wanted from the garden as long as he planned to eat it -- throwing plants away was not allowed.
He sighed.
Grayson had put a lot of work into the garden already this spring. The greenhouse was brimming with seedlings, and Camden didn’t know why, but it pissed him off. He’d turn every single garden bed into chaos, putting in plants willy-nilly.
When the sound of a window opening flew over the garden, Camden jumped. Looking at Grayson’s house, he smiled. The bathroom window. It was tempting to bend and pull a plant out of a bed simply to see if Grayson would come running without clothes again. Cam sighed. He shouldn’t picture Grayson naked. He should fix some food and get some rest.
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