Back in July, Laura Baumbach (owner of MLR, for those that don’t know) was having a moment of “my babies are growing” when she was talking to her oldest son.  With the way things were playing out for him, he’d be moving and taking her only grandchild away (ended up not moving but that’s a different story) – she was looking at a slightly empty house at the holidays and she was feeling sentimental. She posted a message to the author/staff loop about the holidays and traditions – she said something about if someone would like to join me, let’s do a holiday anthology. Within six hours or so, about 15 authors had said “oooh, I’ll write one.” So an innocent email to the MLR author and staff loop snowballed (yeah, couldn’t resist that one) into 42 days of stories (one a day with a few days with an extra story) covering the holidays between November 20^th and December 31^st…Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Yule, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s.

The stories range from the sweet and sentimental to a hot one or two (or more). Some of the authors are revisiting characters/series: Ethan Day is visiting Boone and Wade from Sno Ho/Life in Fusion; S.J. Frost has Ky and Robbie from Black Heart Down; James Buchanan’s Joe and Kabe go tree hunting.  Others are introducing us to new characters. There are a few new to MLR authors with Mia Watts, Brynn Paulin, TA Chase; there are a few brand new authors with K-lee Klein and NJ Nielsen; and lots of MLR favorite authors with ZA Maxfield, Rick R. Reed, William Neale, JP Bowie….I could go on, but you can check out the calendar.

All of us at MLR wish everyone the happiest of seasons! May you keep warm with your someone special and a story or two.

Click on the schedule below to view the full-size version:

Jessewave was kind enough to ask me, J.P. Bowie, to write another article on the ins and outs of gay romance. If you have a spare moment click here  and maybe leave a comment.

Cheers, JP

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