Foothills Pride Box Set

The tiny Sierra Nevada community of Stone Acres looks benign on the outside, but it’s been a hive of activity since gay men from Silicon Valley began moving in. The Old Town establishment is up in arms as newcomers challenge the conservative community to move into the new millennium. Along the way, gay couples find true love and a new home.

Contains the stories:

What’s in a Name?: When barista Jimmy is dumped and gets drunk on his 30th birthday, a handsome, hunky bartender takes care of him, but is mum about his real name. When Jimmy presses him, the bartender makes the quest a game, giving him seven guesses and promising romance each night. For every wrong guess, Jimmy has to forfeit a hot, sexy kiss. Sounds good, but what’s the catch?

Redesigning Max: Out and proud award-winning designer Fredi Zimmer takes on straight outdoorsman Max Greene’s cabin renovation. When he finds out Max is closeted and wants to come out, Fredi helps Max remodel not only his cabin but his life. Angered that Fredi has turned him, Max’s former friends intervene. Will Fredi and Max win the fight for their happiness?

Behr Facts: After CEO Abe Behr discovers discrepancies in his construction company accounts, he hires CPA Jeff Mason to help him find the embezzler. Searching for the culprit, they become closer, and Abe realizes he’s gay. However, coming out to a hostile family and community may break up the couple before they cement their happiness. With so much strife, will love prevail?

When Adam Fell: Jason’s drug addiction ripped them apart. Does Adam want to get back together now that his former lover says he’s clean?

Relative Best: When hotel owner Zeke Bandy meets Vic Longbow, he sees stars. But Vic is in town to attend a wedding and to open an office, not to fall in love. Are they doomed as lovers because they’re both too busy for happily ever after?

Frank at Heart: What will it take to make hardware store owner Frank update himself and his store? Could the new man in town be the key to unlock Frank’s life and future happiness?

Waking the Behr: Ladies’ man and small town contractor Ben Behr is blindsided by his lustful feelings for San Francisco entrepreneur Mitch O’Shea. Can a country mouse and a city mouse bridge the gap in their upbringing and expectations to find love?

Short Order: Amid the happiness of the Christmas season, horticulturist Fen Miller and his landlord sous chef John Barton have some serious decisions to make. Fen must decide on a career and John on eluding his grim past. Together can they support each other enough to discover their happily ever after?

Published:
Publisher: JMS Books (https://www.jms-books.com/)
Editors:
JM Snyder
Cover Artists:
Written Ink Designs
Genres:
contemporary, MM, romance
Tags:
accountant, barista, bartender, bird watcher, cabin, chef, college graduate, computer game designer, construction worker, contemporary, embezzlement, entrepreneur, family, Foothills Pride series, gay romance, hardware store, hotel owner, interior designer, LGBTQ+, maitre d', MM, movie scout, music, Native American, Northern California, outdoorsman, POC, San Francisco, second chance, second chance at love, second chance love, short men, Sierra Nevada foothills, software designer, sous chef, starting over, teenager
Excerpt:

EXCERPT FROM "What's in a Name?"

READ MORE
    • Is there anything worse than waking up with a really bad hangover? The answer, I found out that morning, was a solid yes. My particular hell was waking up in a strange bed with someone lying next to me, who's snoring away so loud I was surprised the neighbors weren't complaining. What made it all worse was I had to pee really, really bad, and I didn't have a clue where the bathroom was.
    • I lay on my back taking stock. I was naked, covered with a beige sheet and navy blue comforter in a huge bed, my head taking up most of the California king space.
    • Where the heck was I? I had no clue. I really didn't care because I was hurting so badly it'd probably be better if whoever lived here would just shoot me and put me out of my misery.
    • Still, I had to pee, so I slowly swam to the edge of the bed, trying not to move any body parts. Which was a complete failure. I ached all over. Had someone beaten me up?
    • As I reached the side of the bed and peered over the edge at the floor a few stories below, I groaned. Where was the ladder to climb down to the carpeting? I clutched the edge of the bed with one hand and rolled to my side.
    • "Hey, where you going, Jimmy?"
    • I hadn't noticed the snoring had stopped until the voice boomed in my ear.
    • Carefully, I turned my head.
    • The Stonewall Saloon bartender with the nametag of Alex last night was peering at me over his chest of hair. His eyes were squinted. A slender beam of light from a gap in the curtains was aimed at his face.
    • "Bathroom. Pee." I sighed. "Gotta pee."
    • "Right." He groaned and caused a tidal wave on the mattress even though it wasn't a water bed.
    • My body reacted with the seismic quake and my stomach protested. I swallowed back the rising pain even though I knew my gut had nothing left in it to come up.
    • I felt large hands under my arms.
    • "Right this way."
    • His voice clanged from one of my ears to the other.
    • He turned me, and we marched to a doorway and into the bathroom. Carefully, he lowered my nude body down onto the toilet.
    • "No spilling." He turned away and walked into the hallway.
    • I pushed my limp dick between my legs and did my thing, not spilling a drop on the bathroom floor or the toilet seat. Then I rested my arm on the sink counter next to the toilet and put my head on my arm.
    • "Nope, no snoozing here." His voice boomed. "C'mon. It's way too early for this shit."
    • Again arms lifted me. After I balanced myself, one hand left. The toilet roiled. The hand returned.
    • "We'd usually wash our hands," the voice murmured through me, "but I think we'll skip it this time."
    • Back in bed, covered, dry mouthed, I decided it was again nap time.
    • * * * *
    • The next time I woke, I was awake. Awake awake. Oh my God, where in the hell am I awake. Shit, I'm in big trouble awake. Where are my clothes awake.
    • I took inventory. No pain in the ass. That was a relief. No smell of semen. Check, and another sigh. No aches and pains that weren't directly related to way, way too many shots and beers, check. No clothes. No clothes?
    • I was okay, pretty much, other than naked, hungover, and in a stranger's house.
    • Damn it, I was thirty years old, naked in a stranger's bed, with only a hazy recollection of what happened after my now former boyfriend Alex stranded me at the Stone Acres' historic saloon.
    • I had a hazy memory of the bartender helping me to the bar bathroom the night before and this morning. So was I at his house? If so, how'd I get here?
    • "Um," I tried to say, but my mouth was glued shut.
    • I reached over to feel the side of the bed. Still there. Then I reached over to the other side. Nothing. No one.
    • Okay, I was alone in a strange bed as my memory filtered back online. I had been an ass, and the bartender with the faux name of Alex had taken care of me anyway. I owed him my firstborn child, should such a thing happen to me now in my boyfriendless state. I owed Alex the bartender everything, including my pride and gratitude.
    • What I really needed to do was apologize for causing him so much trouble.
    Slowly I sat up and then stood. My knees protested, so I sat back down and then tried again. This time my knees cooperated.

 

 

COLLAPSE

Short Order

When recent horticulture graduate Dr. Fenton Miller arrives in Stone Acres, California, he thinks his only concern is which job offer to accept after spending the holidays working at his cousin’s plant nursery. But after he rents a room from another shorter-than-average man, sous-chef John Barton, Fen falls in lust.

While he’s attracted to Fen, John’s got bigger concerns when two men from his past arrive in town and pressure him to return to San Francisco. Although John tries to stop Fen from getting involved, Fen realizes his lover is in trouble and is determined to protect him.

As the holidays get closer and Fen makes his own enemy, the joy of the season gets lost in the ill will around them. To ensure love triumphs, Fen and John must stand tall to show that short, dark, and handsome is a recipe for love.

Published:
Publisher: JMS Books (https://www.jms-books.com/)
Cover Artists:
Written Ink Designs
Genres:
contemporary, holiday, MM, romance
Tags:
college graduate, contemporary, Foothills Pride series, gay romance, MM, short men, Sierra Nevada foothills, sous chef
Excerpt:

After a hectic morning, I’d finally gotten a chance to phone Blue Cottage’s owner a little before lunch. He’d answered almost on the first ring. His last name, a one-word greeting, rolled over me and nearly brought me to my knees, it sounded so beautiful. God, I love baritones. His deep, husky voice soothed me. I could live under this landlord. I refused to giggle at my joke.

“Uh, hi. This is, uh, Fen Miller.”

“You want to see the apartment.” His tone said not to waste his time. I could hear the sounds of pots and pans rattling around in the background.

So I launched into my schedule.

“I’m off at five Tuesdays through Fridays, work half days on Saturday morning and Monday afternoon. Are any of those times good for you?” He wanted serious, I could do serious.

“Tonight at five thirty,” he growled.

“Okay. See you then.”

READ MORE

On my way to work, I’d driven by the house, paused in front of it, and taken a picture with my phone, then sent it to Mom in Davis.

 

Hey, Ma, what do you think?

Oh, honey, it’s you. All yours or sharing?

Renter if it’s not too expensive. Taking a look tonight.

Good luck. Call me afterward. Love you.

U2

 

Mom taught English composition at a community college and was just as organized as I was unorganized. When I was growing up, she’d been tough, never wasting the sporadic childcare payments that my virile, sports-mad dad sent. I never doubted her love. In fact, she’d made my coming out the most anticlimactic in the history of gay mankind.

I had to choose which permanent, grown-up job to take. She’d put in her time and deserved more from life than parenting the “perfect” child.

 

 

That night I stood freezing at Barton’s door, admiring Blue Cottage. The snow drifts piled on the lawn made the house look greeting-card perfect. I searched for a doorbell. Instead, a lion-headed knocker snarled at me. I grinned. Every house needed an intimidating guardian, right?

A man who looked about my age and height opened the door and slipped out, shutting it behind him. I was curious to see inside, but I got that the guy wanted his privacy. No problem.

“Hi. I’m Fen.”

He looked me over, then turned to the left along the shoveled porch. As he walked, he played with the keyring, bouncing a key in his hand. Did I make him nervous? If so, was that a good thing?

“This way.”

Okay. I took a breath and followed his pert ass and brisk steps as we rounded the porch to a steep staircase. From my brief glance at his face, he seemed okay. I was still slightly put off by his brusque manner. But hey, I reminded myself, I was renting from him, not fucking him.

In silence I followed him up to a small porch and a solid-looking back door, which he opened after only a little fumbling.

I was greeted by the stuffy, closed-up odor of a place long left undisturbed.

“You’d be my first renter. It’s furnished, but I can store anything you don’t want.” He made quick eye contact with me. The words erupted from him like I made him uncomfortable or something. Maybe it was my piercing and the tattoo, or maybe the hair color. I tried a smile, but he blushed and turned away, gesturing to the rooms.

Even though the air inside was chilly, I looked around and fell even more in love than I had when I’d first seen the house. The 1940s era furniture and knickknacks turned what could have been sterile rooms into my kind of home. I exhaled, letting the ambience settle in my soul as I wandered through a country kitchen, tiny dining room, sitting room, two bedrooms, and a classic bathroom, ending eventually at a circular tower room. I fell even deeper in love along the way as I touched the scratched kitchen table, a velveteen-covered parlor settee, a solid-looking four-poster bed, and the needlepoint-cushioned window seat in the tower.

If I were Barton, I’d charge thousands a month for this place. I prayed he wasn’t me and was relieved when my prayers were answered.

“You want to keep the furniture?” He still didn’t look at me as he bent over the kitchen table to fill out the rental agreement. Who needed him staring? I could live with letting his voice pour over me and seeing his kissable lips.

“I can’t imagine living here without all of it.” Or maybe even you, I thought, eyeing his pert butt wiggling at me as he wrote.

He stopped, stood, and eyed me for a few seconds before bending and going back to writing. I hadn’t said that about his butt out loud, had I?

As I was daydreaming about his ass and the scarred table, he stopped writing, looked over the form, and finally twisted it toward me. “Sign here, initial here, and date it. Then I need your rent for the month.”

I was signing before he changed his mind. The rent was ridiculously cheap. “No deposit?” There had to be a catch, right?

“No.”

I glanced up. He was gazing down at the table, or maybe at my hands. Or my groin? I signed as fast as I could and wrote a check to John Barton, the name on the rental agreement. So he had a first name, and we had a deal.

COLLAPSE
Reviews:Dan on Love Bytes wrote:

I knew when I picked up this book that I would enjoy it. After all, I really enjoy all this author’s stories. This one wasn’t an exception.

Fen Miller is in Stone Acres to work with his cousin and her girlfriend during the holiday season at their nursery. He can’t possibly live with two lesbians though because even when being quiet they make enough noise during sex to put him off. Then he finds an ad for an apartment in a beautiful old Victorian house that he has always admired in town. When he meets the man who owns the house, and he is as short as Fen, they instantly bond over the ‘short’ thing. Both have been picked on their entire lives for being short and they have that in common. It turns out they have more in common that just that as the story proceeds.

I liked this one. There was a backstory involving John and a young guy that shows up mid story named Ricky. Both John and Ricky are trying to escape from a very bad man named Leo and the reasons lead to some drama in the story.

I’ve got to say that I’ve liked every story in this series. But…I’ve got the same comment on this one that I had on all the others. I want more! I’d love them to each be longer. I just get to know and like the characters and we’re at the end of the story. I know many of you probably think they are the perfect length…so I might be the minority. Length grumbles aside. I enjoyed Fen and John. Their characters and situations were a great addition to the residents of Stone Acres.

I highly recommend this installment and all of the previous ones.

Prime on MM Good Book Reviews wrote:

For those that have been reading Pat Henshaw’s Foothills Pride series, you won’t be disappoint. Just as I had expected, this was a sweet and lovely story that was exactly to the standard that I have come to expect from the world that Henshaw has created. For new comers to the series, you don’t necessarily need to read the series in order, but I would recommend it. I still think that this series in comparable to Carol Lynne’s Cattle Valley series.

The story follows Fenton Miller, he’s recently graduated after completing his PhD. Unlike many PhD graduates, Fen is going to relax and work at his cousin’s plant nursery over the holidays while he decides which job offer he is going to choose. However, all that is shot to hell when he meets local sous chef, John Barton and there is an instant attraction between the two men. The chemistry is off the charts amazing and the two characters not only develop well throughout the story.

Other than really liking the book, I have to say that Fen at first was hard for me to relate to and being that I have a PhD in marine microbial ecology, that’s just weird. It’s mostly because he is repeatedly introduced as Dr Fenton Miller. Yes, it is true, he is a doctor being that he has completed his PhD. However, in the real world it is normally insufferable people that do this. There’re a couple other things that I didn’t really get on board with immediately with Fen, yet in the end he grew up a lot throughout the book and I absolutely loved him. Yet he compliments John, who is wonderful character that I fell in love with and was able to relate to immediately. John makes Fen a better person and I’m glad they got their happily ever after.