About Brackets
by AKM Miles
153 pages
/ 66000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-318-5, 1-60370-318-7
Available file types - html. lit, pdf, prc
Photojournalist Austin Edmunds is something of a loner, preferring his own company to all of the people his friends try to set him up with. A new assignment in the Smoky Mountains might just change all that, though, when Austin meets big, sexy hunk, Brack Edge.
Austin has never experienced an attraction as immediate as the one he feels for Brack, and he loves the scenery and people he encounters in the Smokies. Despite all that, life isn’t all fun and games for Austin and Brack. They take on helping out a local kid with his homophobic family, and Austin has a story to finish. The hardest part might just be how Brack and Austin will handle the fact that Austin is a Manhattan man to the core, and Brack is a mountain boy, through and through. Can they find a way to keep it together?
Review
Mychael Black, author of the Breakdown Series, writes:
Austin is a photojournalist who grew up on the mean streets of New York. With the assignment of covering a family hit hard by the war in Iraq, he heads to the mountains -- somewhere quite out of his element. There he meets Brack Edge, the burly mountain man who’s to be his guide for six weeks. While the attraction between them is immediate, little does Austin know that Brack -- and the Jenkins family, and a young man named Randy -- will all change his life for the better.
Brackets is an amazing story of letting go of the past and building a new future. Austin and Brack were made for one another, the chemistry between them undeniable. As the resident gay man in a town with gay-bashers, Brack’s learned to hold his own quite well, and the way he cares for Randy is admirable. Austin’s flashbacks to a moment in his past, sparked by meeting Randy, were emotional and strong; but nothing compared to the stories Homer Jenkins tells of his lost children. And little Bethany, the Jenkins’ daughter, stole every scene she was in.
If you enjoy beautiful stories without the usual angst, ones that just put a smile on your face, then you absolutely need to read Brackets.
Sample
Austin woke to the sounds of dogs barking and Brack laughing. Not bad sounds, he thought. Beats an alarm clock. He lay still a few seconds and caught more. There were birds and the chittering of some small animals under his window. This side of the house was closer to the trees. He felt like he was in the forest, right in the trees with all the animals. Come to think of it, he was in the treetops with the animals. It was certainly different from the concrete jungle he was from. He smiled and got up, eager to meet the day, eager to see Brack again this morning.
As he entered the kitchen downstairs, he could smell wonderful breakfast aromas. There was coffee made, and a note on the table inviting him to get the plate that had been kept warm for him in the oven and join Brack on the porch. He helped himself to some orange juice from the fridge and grabbed the plate. There was a pretty wooden tray sitting on the counter, that Austin would bet that Brack had made, so he put all his food and drinks on it and headed out.
Brack looked up as he came out the door. He was sitting at one of the tables on the big porch and grinning at Austin, reaching across with his foot to push back the chair opposite him. Austin put his food down and dropped into the chair, returning the look.
"This is wonderful. Thanks for the breakfast, by the way. Everything looks great. Man, it's really nice out here. Where are the girls?"
"I'm trying to teach them that, when I'm eating out here, they're not to sit and beg, so I reward them when they stay in the yard while I have meals on the deck. Look at them, though; they are really being tested with you here, too. They're not used to me having anyone else out here. They can't wait to get up here." Brack glanced over fondly at the two pretty Labs.
Austin looked behind him and there they were, both looking at him with their hearts in their eyes. It was evident the pups wanted to join them desperately.
He looked back at Brack, and his mind clicked in that Brack was telling him he didn't have other men here.
"You don't entertain out here?" It was such a perfect place. He hoped he didn't sound like he was trying to find out if Brack brought guys here.
"Actually, you're the first guy I've cooked breakfast for and invited to join me here. I've had guests that I've taken on trips into the hills for various reasons, but they don't get quite the service or the interest that you do." Brack looked right into Austin's eyes, grinning.
He didn't seem to mind admitting that he was interested in Austin. Austin liked knowing he wasn't one of a crowd. Brack put his elbow on the table and put his hand up.
Austin did the same. Their hands met and their fingers entwined, their palms pressing together for a few seconds. They said nothing, but Austin thought they both felt better about things. He was glad they weren't in a hurry, but Brack seemed equally interested in pursuing this chemistry between them.
Austin began to eat and asked about the day's plans. Brack suggested they do about a week at least of traveling the hills and shooting scenery for the article before they went up to the Jenkins' place. He said he wanted Austin to get a feel for the hill country, the mountains, the beauty of the area, before meeting the people who were the main focus of his article.
Austin was fine with it. He had plenty of time on this trip. He started to say something when he saw a movement behind Brack. Was that…? Yes, there was a man creeping around the corner of the house.
"Don't look now, but there's someone coming around the corner behind you. It looks like…uh…that boy you sort of hit yesterday," Austin told him very quietly, without letting the kid know they knew he was there.
Without even turning his head, Brack said just a little louder, "Come on over, Randy. You hungry?"
The young man jumped. He stopped a second, then came on, hands in his pockets and his head down. He walked up the two levels of the patio and porch and came over to the table. He cleared his throat and brought his head up. There was a slight bruise on his jaw where Brack had hit him yesterday, but now Austin could see that his other eye was black and blue and swollen. He seemed to be favoring his left arm, too. Someone had beaten the crap out of him.
"Randy," Brack said gently, "did Buck do that? Again? Why this time?"