Buy on Amazon Once upon a time, a group of authors wondered… What if the Heart2Heart app -- the dating app with a glitch that matched up the oddest, most perfect couples, and sponsored the charity date raffles that helped dozens of people find love -- offered a classifieds section, too?
Need a handyman who knows how to wear a tool belt? Have a closet of drag costumes that needs a new home? How about finally tracking down that guy who made the perfect drink, or who’s just the right height to reach the top shelf?
Join some of your favorite authors of gay romance as they bring you sixteen brand-new stories inspired by reader suggestions!
Once again, all proceeds from this collection will go to the authors’ favorite LGBTQ charities, to ensure that love in all its forms will be celebrated and protected every single day of the year!
We are so excited to offer an exclusive look at the opening of Annabeth Albert’s Heart2Heart charity anthology contribution, “The Date,” which centers around a foodie in need of a Valentine’s Day dinner companion and a homesick marine!
And we are thrilled to be giving away and an e-copy of the anthology ….
An anthology that contains 16 all-new stories, written by some of the biggest names in gay romance!
This anthology supports three amazing charities and is available for a limited time.
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY by telling us a charity near and dear your heart!
Exclusive for Shh Mom’s Reading from “The Date” by Annabeth Albert:
***
Wanted: Companion for exquisite five course gourmet Valentine’s Day dinner at a top-secret Portland restaurant, no sex or romance required! Just a funny, gay, foodie guy in dire need of stimulating dinner conversation. Sense of adventure and sweet tooth appreciated.
Xavier studied the ad for the tenth time. He was supposed to be using his limited downtime and computer access to look for a rental situation after his deployment ended. But somehow, his search of Portland housing ads on Heart2Heart had led him to Funny Foodie Guy, and now he was intrigued way more than he had any right to be.
And hungry. That too. Damn did he miss food. Not even gourmet food as much as choice and variety. Anything other than the limited rations at this remote desert outpost that taxed even the usually enthusiastic chow hall personnel to come up with a rotation. They tried. He knew they did, because like all military, they took pride in their work, but there was only so much they could do with lumpy instant potatoes, canned sides, and bland meat options. And that was the nights back at base. A lot of the time, it was MREs out in the field. No dining out. No shopping at a fancy grocery store or even the commissary.
Occasionally, he or a fellow marine would get a care package, but those were few and far between. He missed impromptu snacking, impulsive food cart visits, late nights out, and new offerings from old favorites. And yeah, he missed his dad’s cooking and his mom’s desserts and plenty of other things stateside too. Something about this ad made all those feelings sharper, more intense, made him more ready to be done.
A pricey five-course meal fit for someone with a sweet tooth sounded like foodie heaven right then. The perfect thing to look forward to over these last few weeks. But he’d be crazy to reply, right?
It wasn’t like he had trouble finding dates on his own when he was back home. Another thing he missed—easy companionship. Their mission was too precarious to risk hooking up with a fellow marine only to have months of awkwardness after. Out here, awkward got people killed.
Back home, though, he wouldn’t have to try too hard to find someone to accompany him to whatever restaurant caught his fancy. But the thought of the dating game—the swiping right, the bar scene, the well-meaning introductions from friends and family—exhausted him. And make no mistake, being home right before Valentine’s Day meant that all his people would be busy trying to find him unattached men for blind dates. But what if he had a ready-made date waiting for him? Something for the so-called most romantic day of the year when every happily coupled contact suddenly became overwhelmed with the desire to match make.
And it would mean a feast. He knew Portland, knew there was an underground food scene, the network of reservations only, exclusive supper clubs, pop up restaurants, places hidden in back rooms of other joints, and other gems that people like Funny Foodie Guy spoke about in rapturous tones. Xavier had been to a few such places, and the temptation to add another was strong.
Maybe…
Make a decision, Porter. His inner drill sergeant reminded him time was wasting and fortune never favored the indecisive. Come on, what’s the harm in a fast reply? At worst, Funny Foodie Guy would ignore it. At best, Xavier would get a meal to look forward to and a good story for his buddies to boot. If the guy was too old or too weird or too intolerable, Xavier could handle himself.
Mind made up and time at the computer station ticking away, he typed quickly.
Hey Funny Foodie! Active duty marine with a sense of humor here who hasn’t had a decent meal in months. I should be getting discharged a week before Valentine’s Day, and then I’m heading home to Portland with a major hankering for something sweet and gourmet. Not sure if it matters, but I’m twenty-six, six foot four, Black, gay, tats, but I know how to clean up for a nice meal. And I’m totally cool with no sex. My buddies will tell you that I can talk about just about anything—hoops, movies, my dad’s cooking, music. Let me know if any of this interests you, but no harm, no foul if you’ve got a better offer.
Charity information:
With this third volume we are proud to be donating a portion of our proceeds to each of the following charities:
🏳️🌈 LGBT Youth Line: a Queer, Trans, Two-Spirit* youth-led organization that affirms and supports the experiences of youth (29 and under) across Ontario. We do this by:
-Providing anonymous peer support and referrals;
-Training youth to provide support to other youth; and
-Providing resources so youth can make informed decisions.
🏳️🌈 Kind Space: committed to providing accessible resources, events, social, and educational programming to celebrate and support people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions.
🏳️🌈 The Canadian Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity: aspiring to support and transform Canadian and indigenous communities from coast to coast to coast in a shared vision of a discrimination-free gender and sexually diverse world.
More info:
The first 2 volumes of Heart2Heart made a combined total of more than $50,000 USD.
The net proceeds were donated to six incredible charities, including One-n-Ten, Ali Forney Center, Trevor Project, Rainbow Railroad, Trans LifeLine, and the Bisexual Resource Center. These volumes are no longer available, but thankfully the passion for the project hasn’t faded. Every step of the process has been donated:
Cover design, logo, and promotional graphics by AngstyG
Beta reading, editing, proofreading by the team at LesCourt Author Services, as well as Allison Roy
Promotional posting by LesCourt Author Services and A Novel Take PR
And of course, the authors’ time and efforts
Learn more about participating authors:
Annabeth Albert
Facebook
May Archer
Facebook
Mary Calmes
Facebook
Charlie Cochet
Facebook
Eden Finley
Facebook
Susan Hawke
Facebook
Sloane Kennedy
Facebook
Lucy Lennox
Facebook
Lily Morton
Facebook
K.M. Neuhold
Facebook
Nora Phoenix
Facebook
Layla Reyne
Facebook
Piper Scott (writing as Emma Alcott)
Facebook
Damon Suede
Facebook
Hailey Turner
Facebook
Aimee Nicole Walker
Facebook
Latifa Morrisette
A charity that is near and dear to my heart is the American Diabetes Association.
Heather Scully
I’m thrilled to see another volume of this awesome project! I actually just donated some of the 🏳️🌈 books I have on my shelf at home, to the local PARN office here for their free library the other day. I wanted to pass on some great, mostly positive fiction to those who might be struggling to find any literature they can relate and/or identify with. They were happy to have them. Felt good to be able to pass books on to a service that will benefit from them.
Erin M Lazzarini
Planned Parenthood…
Melissa Pabzer
This anthology looks awesome! Olivia’s House is a charity near to my heart. They were amazing with my boys after we lost our daughter. Helping them through their grief, allowing them to express their sorrow and pain…it’s a fantastic charity, they do so much good to help prevent lifelong trauma.
Thanks for the chance! 💗🤞🏻💗🤞🏻💗
Cathy Mullican
One charity near my heart is the National MS Society.
Vanlatte
It’s a charity that dedicated to help homeless and unemployed people. Maybe this is not something big, like disease amd sexuality, but it’s really hard to get a job, especially if you’re near retiring age and don’t have stable job…
[ — This is just me complaining —
And people are sometimes shitty… They talk bad things about other people to make themselves look better… Well, the usual response will be “It won’t change anything if you are not like what they said”. Well, this might be true in another dimension because when people start gossiping bad things about you, it stuck like glitter. Whatever you do, it’s still there…
If you were born with silver tounge, you are extremely lucky. You might have some brilliant verbal counterattack with these awful people…
It’s not me that have this problem, btw. It’s my father… And this kind of charity help :)]
Kim Perry
CurePSP is near and dear to my heart.