After I had turned in twelve stories for this collection, we realized there wasn’t an M/M pairing. I knew immediately that this final story of *thirteen–a baker’s dozen, if you will–would have to star a baker.
Hugh appeared and he was grumpy. He’d been in the army, was barely scraping by, and had been scorned by his previous lover. Baking was a difficult business in those days, barely allowing a living. It forced a man to sweat at the ovens all day so picture Nicolas Cage in Moonstruck. Sweaty and dirty and brimming with resentment.
Kip is the youngest son of the local gentry. He’s a poet and very privileged, but tied to a family who doesn’t understand him at all. He’ll settle for an affair, but he longs to be in love–and very quickly falls for Hugh.
I adore these two and hope you do, too!
*Fun Fact: We later cut one story that wasn’t working so the final collection was only twelve. Best laid plans of mice and writers…