Hello Rainbow Snippeters! 😁
In case you’re not familiar with #RainbowSnippets, check out their Facebook Group where you’ll find a new post each Saturday (or early Friday, depending on your time zone). That weekly pinned post will collect comments from authors linking to their 6-ish-line Rainbow Snippet post for the week.
I was browsing through a few websites that feature obscure “holidays” looking for something/anything on September 16 that might inspire me for this week’s Rainbow Snippet, and I found one: Big Whopper Liar Day (observed on the 3rd Saturday in September). I immediately thought of To Love and To Cherish. The big lie in that story is more a lie of omission than a direct lie, but it’s still a whopper.
Basically Nash and Emmitt agree to a marriage of convenience that’ll solve problems each are dealing with in their lives, and based on their mutual agreement that romantic love is fleeting and no basis for a lasting relationship. Nash has a whole checklist of things he’s decided are what really matter, and Emmitt tics all the boxes, so why not? Fuck love. It’s brought neither of them anything but pain.
Except, the very next day, as Nash is moving off his best friend’s couch and into Emmitt’s condo, he’s the victim of a freak accident. Among other injuries, his memory is scrambled, and he’s missing the past couple months. In his mind, he’s no longer lived through the heavy and public drama that ended his last relationship, and he’s no longer “jaded Nash.” He’s rebooted to his old optimistic self who believes in love and happily ever afters.
So of course, when he learns he’s about to marry Emmitt, he naturally assumes it’s a love match, and Emmitt goes along with it. It’s a pretty darned big whopper of a lie-of-omission. No way that could ever backfire, right?
Here are some lines from the end of Chapter 10, in which the aforementioned big whopper lie is instigated (sorry, it’s a tish more than 6 lines this week).
For context, Emmitt is a physician (though not Nash’s), and the story is told from Nash’s 3rd-person POV:
Emmitt nodded and stepped around the bed to Nash’s right side. It was so weird thinking of this man as his fiancé. “Your pain level should improve some overnight. Make good use of your PCA in the meantime.” He gestured toward the morphine pump.
Nash snorted. “Trust me, I am.”
“How’s the food? Can I get you anything else that you might prefer? It doesn’t have to be hospital food. I’d be happy to pick up whatever you’ll eat.”
Maybe it wasn’t so weird to imagine after all. Nash eased his aching head to the side and peered into Emmitt’s eyes. He saw sincerity and concern and…genuine caring.
Emmitt continued. “I know I don’t have to tell you how important eating well is to your recovery.”
Nash smiled at him. “I can see why I fell in love with you.”
Emmitt blinked, then smiled back. He leaned down and lightly kissed the side of Nash’s face and whispered, “Likewise.”
Will Nash find love again?
Of course he will.
Will he go about it in the usual manner?
Now that’s another story entirely!
Release Date: Saturday, November 12, 2016
Publisher: JMS Books, LLC
Length: Novel / 63,504 Words
Genre: Gay Contemporary Romance
Pairings/Orientation: M/M, Gay
Tropes: Marriage of Convenience, Amnesia, Doctor/Nurse, Hurt/Comfort, Gay Virgin, Unrequited Love
Themes: Down on his luck, Maybe the bad things were a blessing in disguise?
NOTE: To Love and To Cherish is in KINDLE UNLIMITED, but not exclusively. It’s also in KOBO PLUS and at distributors everywhere!
BLURB
Jilted by his fiancé two weeks before their wedding, Nash Marino’s outlook on life in general, and love in particular, is jaded. After months of couch-surfing, Nash is fed up. He’s sick and tired of his living conditions, worn out by the demands of his nursing job, and despairs of ever finding love again. In fact, he doesn’t think he’s capable of true love. Monogamy, commitment, companionship, and regular sex…that’s all he wants, and the sooner, the better.
When Nash crosses paths with a like-minded man who’s also in need of a live-in nurse for a beloved relative, Nash figures all his problems are solved. Matters are complicated by a freak accident and amnesia. When Nash’s marriage of convenience scheme is muddied by notions of love after his memory reboot, will their plans go awry, or will Nash’s new outlook on life be just what the doctor ordered?
Author’s Note:
Although To Love and To Cherish is the final book in the Vows Series, it is not necessary to read the preceding books first. This book features a different couple than the first three books, and while it wasn’t written as a standalone novel, it was written to be able to stand alone. Meaning, all the drama that happened in book 1 and that drives Nash’s decisions in this story are covered.
Oh, this is lovely! The premise of your story sounds great, and this is a gorgeous snippet. ❤️
Thank you! ❤️
Aww, so sweet!
Thank you! ❤️
A really sweet scene. Tweeted.
Thank you! ❤️