Sometimes it’s the guy right under your nose that’s perfect for you, but what does it take to notice the boy next door? The Boys Next Door Taste Test explore the untapped joys of what’s right at your doorstep. In Cassidy Ryan’s A Perfect Match, Keaghan is trying to keep his hands off his brother-in-law’s kid sibling, but Trace is just right for him. Will they be the perfect match? In Dakota Flint’s Breaking Point Jonathon Burns moves back into his childhood home after the end of his long-term relationship. He’s not prepared for Alex Walsh, the boy he once loved, trying to rekindle old flames. Jonathon doesn’t want to risk his heart again, so he tries to resist and even tells Alex to back off, but will he fall again anyway? Finally, in Peep Show, by Zoe Nichols, Seth Richards is your average thirty-five year old man whose life is pretty normal. Until Dillon Callaway moves into his neighborhood, that is. When Dillon gives him a show from across the way, Seth knows his life is about to turn upside down. Can he find the courage to break his comfortable routine?

 

 

“This is another wonderful story with terrific characters who have enough of a back story to make them appear real. Both Jonathon and Alex were so well drawn I would not have been surprised to see them on the street. Great job Ms Flint.”
–Jessewave, Reviews by Jessewave.  Read the whole review here.

 

“This is a powerful story filled with intense and raw emotions, a story of first love and second chances that leaves an opening for the future.”
–Emily, at Rainbow Reviews. Read the whole review here.

 

“This was a great story; I loved the fact the author used a flashback in her story. Alex and Jonathon are sweet characters and ones I wouldn’t mind seeing again.”
–Caen Nymph, at Literary Nymphs Reviews. Read the whole review here.

 

 

He was about to come out of his skin. Honestly, he just couldn’t stand it anymore. Alex was everywhere, with his gleaming skin and toned body, and now that, that column! Gah. Jonathon just knew, he absolutely knew that Alex was talking about him, talking to him. He just knew it.

 

A columnist for the local newspaper, Alex generally wrote about politics or something important going on. He was bright and insightful, and Jonathon eagerly devoured his column every Monday and Friday. But today! So unlike his usual columns, with all that talk of a book Alex had once loved, but not appreciated fully at the time, saying now that he was wiser and older and more well-read, he realized what a treasure it was. Alex also said in the column that just because he would read the book now with different eyes didn’t mean he couldn’t feel the same way about it that he once did. Ha! Jonathon knew that column was directed at him.

 

After reading it and marveling at Alex’s audacity, Jonathon resolved not to respond in any way. He didn’t even know why Alex was pushing it so hard. It wasn’t as if Jonathon was still holding a grudge, because he wasn’t. With time and perspective, he had eventually understood why Alex had acted the way he did, even if he could have been a little more clear about what he was and wasn’t looking for. At the time, Alex had just been discovering what it was like to be with another guy, and he just hadn’t been at a place to make a commitment to anyone when he was still learning who he was.

 

So, no, he wasn’t still mad about the past. He just did not want to get hurt. Jonathon was clearly still susceptible to the draw of the man after so many years, just as he had been susceptible to the boy. He hated to admit it, but he was afraid that Alex could, and would, hurt him again. After Devon, that was the last thing he was in the market for.

 

But Alex would just not leave it alone. That column was like waving a red flag at him, and now Jonathon could see Alex through the kitchen window, doing chin-ups without his shirt. The sight made Jonathon instantly hard and he left the kitchen and tried to ignore thoughts of Alex, but he was inexorably drawn back to the sight.

 

It was making him antsy. So antsy, in fact, that he wasn’t even enjoying the nighttime thunderstorm. Jonathon loved storms; they always made him long to grab his camera and see if he could capture the electricity in the air, the elemental feeling of it all.

Instead of enjoying the power of the storm, thanks to Alex, he wanted to climb right out of his skin. Not to mention, he was pacing and talking to himself as if he was crazed.

 

Abruptly, he just couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to see if Alex still tasted the same, see if it could still be as good between them as it was when he was an untried youth.

 

With that thought, Jonathon burst out of his back door without an umbrella or even a jacket, heedless of the driving rain. He marched across to Alex’s lawn and didn’t even bother knocking on his back door.