Title: Love Blooms
Author: Stephanie Hoyt
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: December 10, 2018
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 61800
Genre: Fantasy, Santa, elves, magic, holiday
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Synopsis
Nico Hamurişi is the one and only son of Santa Claus. All his life, Nico has known he’s expected to fall in love and find lifelong commitment by the Christmas of his thirtieth year—like every other heir before him. But knowing and accepting are vastly different things, and as the final countdown begins, Nico has yet to embrace his fate. His once great enthusiasm for eventually becoming Santa has been dimmed by uncertainty over how the Santa Line will be affected when he marries a man.With only a year left, will Nico have time to find love and commitment all while learning how magic will transform the family line to accommodate who he is and who he loves?
Excerpt
Love Blooms
Stephanie Hoyt © 2018
All Rights Reserved
Chapter One
The sun hasn’t even begun to brighten
the sky when Nico reaches the family estate. He shuts his car’s engine off in front
of his childhood home and waits, staring at his watch as the seconds tick by.
The hour hand strikes five and snow starts to fall. His father must have made
his first delivery right on time. Nico sighs, relief washing over him at having
successfully avoided the annual Christmas conversation for the next
twenty-something hours. For the moment, no matter how fleeting, he can go
inside without bracing himself for confrontation.
The snow falls soft and cold on his face
as he walks to the door, and for an instant, Nico thinks it may have been worth
coming home earlier to avoid the snowfall. He laughs, short and bitter, as last
year’s predelivery family dinner flashes in his mind and he remembers what
avoiding the snowfall entails. He’d much rather deal with this cold, wet mess
than the disappointment in his father’s eyes at another year passing by without
him fulfilling his obligations as heir apparent. If last year was bad, this
year will be infinitely worse. His father had been disappointed then, but now with
the deadline looming so close, Nico can imagine how his father’s mood will have
shifted to something far worse than disappointment.
He wipes his feet on the welcome home
mat and opens the door. He takes a deep breath as he steps inside and tries his
best not to let this place get the better of him. It stopped being home years
ago, but he can do this. He can. Except, the utter lack of even a shred of
welcoming quality fills him with dread. This house has been the site of nearly
every argument he’s ever had with his father and he knows he’s opened the door
to yet another lecture on the expectations and obligations that come along with
being the son of Kristoff Hamurişi.
This year won’t be any different,
especially since the final year of the countdown begins at midnight. If he’s
being realistic, which he hates to do, any discussion of his failings is going
to be much more tense than they’ve ever been before. But for now, the lights
inside are off, save for the Christmas tree, his father is out for more than a
full day’s worth of deliveries, the rest of the house seems to be fast asleep,
and Nico can slip upstairs to his childhood bedroom without being noticed.
At least, that’s what he was counting
on.
Unfortunately for him, someone had
different plans for his arrival. He opens his bedroom door to a lit room and a
ball of limbs and hair curled up in the middle of his bed. He sets his suitcase
down with a loud thud and the ball moves, revealing the face of Noelle, the
youngest of his four older sisters.
“My dear little Santicholas,” she says,
words and laughter both swallowed in a yawn. “I can’t believe you thought you
could sneak in here unnoticed.”
Nico rolls his eyes. “You know I hate
when you call me that.”
She untangles herself and pushes up on
the tips of her toes to wrap her arms around Nico in a big, tight hug. “It’s
hard to believe you do when you’re smiling so big.”
Nico’s words get muffled by her hair and
his own laughter. “Yeah, yeah. I missed you, too.”
She lets him go, shaking her head as he
starts to yawn. “You should’ve come home at a decent hour if you wanted to be
well rested.”
Nico narrows his eyes. “If it’s such an
indecent hour then why are you up?”
Noelle lets out a short huff of air,
annoyed. “I wanted you to see a friendly face before…”
Nico closes his eyes. Here it comes. He
should have known better than to think he could avoid confrontation, even for a
moment, even from his closest friend and sibling. When he opens his eyes again,
Noelle’s sitting on the edge of the bed and her face has softened in a way that
makes Nico feel worse.
He smiles but it does nothing to wipe
the gentle expression off her face; she knows him too well, knows he wears it
as a shield.
“You don’t have to pretend with me. I
know failing is what worries you.”
“Failure isn’t my concern here, Noelle.”
Not entirely true. “I’m worried about what will happen if I don’t fail.”
Unbearably true.
Noelle raises her eyebrow, confused, and
Nico’s stomach clenches. Am I actually doing this? He plows on before she can
interrupt and he loses his nerve. “And I’m angry! I’m so incredibly angry I
even need to be concerned by all this shit in the first place. I don’t want to
think of heirs and continuing a family legacy and everything else riding on me
falling in love when I don’t even know how who I love will affect any of this.”
Noelle blinks, breathing out a barely
audible “Oh.”
Nico’s heart skips, his pulse is
erratic.
“I’m gay.”
Noelle blinks again, and again, and
again, and then, after what feels like an eternity of his stomach turning over
in knots, she smiles. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes, okay.”
She motions for Nico to sit next to her,
and he does, knocking his shoulder against hers. “I was expecting a little more
than an okay, if I’m being honest.”
Noelle laughs, embarrassed. “I didn’t
think I should start quizzing you on if you’re seeing anyone, so okay seemed,
well…okay.”
Nico smiles, and this time it’s not a
shield. He feels lighter and more at peace in this house than he has in years.
It’s such a relief to have finally shared such an important part of himself
with such an important person in his life.
“Who all knows?”
Nico doesn’t answer immediately, and
Noelle asks, “Oh, am I the only one who knows?”
“No, it’s not exactly a secret. I mean,
everyone I know who doesn’t know this family knows. So work and friends from
college and yeah. I’m basically out to everyone except the family.”
Noelle appears confused and curious.
“Not even Joy? She knows how—”
Nico cuts her off. “No, not even our
dear lesbian sister knows. Only you.”
Noelle hums an acknowledgment but
doesn’t say anything else for a long while—Nico can tell she’s working through
what to say next.
He has an idea of what she might be
thinking and supplies an answer, “I haven’t told Mom and Dad because, even
though it wasn’t a thing when Joy came out, what if… I mean it’s got to be
different when you don’t have to produce an heir.”
Nico can’t keep the disdain out of his
voice. For as long as he can remember, the heir has been his biggest concern
regarding his father and, in turn, his mother finding out his sexuality.
“There’s all this added pressure surrounding me finding someone to love. I know
they don’t have a problem with queer people, but what if they have a problem
with me being gay. There’s a lot riding on my love life.”
“Okay,” Noelle nods. “Well, yeah. I
can’t deny there is a lot of pressure put on you falling in love. But I’ve got
your back here. No matter what happens, I’ll help you find out how this affects
you being the heir apparent to the Crimson Sleigh.”
Nico bursts out in laughter. “God, shut
up. Why do you insist on calling it that?”
Noelle smiles, pleased as can be.
“Because it makes you laugh.”
Nico purses his lips, trying to stifle
his laughter. “You’re ridiculous, you know?”
“Yes, obviously. But I am also wonderful
and magical and dearly beloved by you.”
“I guess.” He draws the word out,
teasing, and Noelle shoves him, laughing. “Though I wouldn’t consider magical
one of your finer qualities since we all are.”
Noelle crinkles her nose. “If you got
it, flaunt it.”
Nico sighs. He wishes he was pleased
with the extra magic they have, but it’s different—like everything else—when
the full extent of his own powers is contingent on falling in love. “I’d much
rather have no magic at all, but that’s probably just me.”
“Yeah, it’s got to be just you.” She
pauses, furrowing her brow in thought. “Is it even possible to have no magic,
though? Everyone’s got some when it comes down to it, even the Immunes. Magic’s
everywhere little bro; it’s a fact of life.”
“I’d gladly trade with anyone who
doesn’t have a love stipulation placed on their magic.” He doesn’t mean to
sound so wishful, but so much of his life since college has been spent
wondering how his life would be if he didn’t have all this extra pressure resting
on his shoulders. He’d much rather be gifted with any other sort of magic; no
need for the frills of Santahood. “Besides, I’m not much more powerful than
anyone but Dad as it is. Since love eludes me.”
Noelle’s eyes light up. “So you’re not
seeing anyone?”
Nico shakes his head, chuckling. He can
always count on Noelle for poor segues and making him laugh. “Have you been
waiting this whole time to ask me?”
“No, of course not; that’d be absurd.
But since you’ve brought it back up…”
“I didn’t exactly bring it up.”
Noelle waves her hand, dismissing his
words. “Yeah, yeah. But you gave me the perfect opportunity to ask, so.”
“So, what?” Nico knows what she means,
but he wants to mess with her, make her work for the answer.
“So”—she draws the word out, her warm
brown eyes twinkling with familiar mirth—“are you or are you not seeing
anyone?”
“No, not at the moment.”
Noelle seems surprised, and Nico
supplies an answer before she can ask, “It’s not necessarily a coincidence I
pursued a career in something that affords me the opportunity to travel so
much—I’m not entirely sure I want to settle down or fall in love.”
It’s the unfortunate truth of his life,
but Noelle’s face falls. She isn’t pleased with the answer.
“Oh, Nico. You can’t deny yourself love
because of the things expected of you. That’s not fair to yourself.”
Nico shrugs. He wishes it were that
simple, but his obligations are always at the back of his mind, and it only
gets worse when he meets a man who has the potential to be something more.
Noelle smiles, soft and sympathetic. She gets up and ruffles his hair like she
has since they were children; her fingers catch at the end where it’s starting
to curl, and she clucks her tongue. It’s annoying and comforting all at the
same time, as it always has been, and more of Nico’s tension slips away.
Noelle’s always been such a good friend. “Mom will be up soon enough, and the
rest of the house won’t be much longer after that.”
Nico yawns and Noelle continues, hand on
the door, ready to leave, “The kids missed you last night so you might want to
nap and get a story ready for why you didn’t arrive with everyone else because
I’m sure they’ll pester you for one. Especially Timmy. Belle says he’s become
quite the inquisitive little boy as of late.”
Nico motions for the door. “Will you
stop fretting over me and go already. You said I need a nap. So let me nap.”
“Okay, okay. I’m going,” she says, but
before she closes the door, she peeks her head back through and says, “I’m
going to help you figure this all out, Nico. I promise.”
She shuts the door and Nico, for the
first time in a long time, feels calm and relieved and a tad hopeful since he’s
told Noelle. She’s right: he shouldn’t deny himself love. There might be a
deadline and a world of responsibilities, obligations, and powers that come
with being the heir apparent to the sleigh, but at the very least, he can’t let
this change what he wants. He can’t let a part of his life he has never had a
say in control his happiness.
He wants to fall in love; he wants to
settle down; he wants to open his heart and build a life with someone else. And
honestly, Nico thinks, as he starts to doze off, Santa be damned if being gay
will change any of that.
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Meet the Author
Thematically, Stephanie likes magic and spies and magical spies. Aesthetically, she likes glitter and gold and pineapples. She wants to put more soft, sweet bi representation into the world so that people like her teen-self can see themselves in their favorite genres and know that who they are is nothing to be ashamed of.She currently lives in the Great White North (Wisconsin) with her husband, daughter, and three dogs. The only thing getting her through these Midwest winters is the soothing sound of Tim Riggins saying “Texas forever” and the prospect of one day moving back there. She loves a good astrology twitter but ultimately only believes in it when her husband calls her stubborn and then her response is: “Well, I am a Taurus.”
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