Simon Peters and his partner Mark Smith face a number of challenging life events in the fourth and final volume of this heart-warming saga. Because of his time working on the streets after being kicked out of home by his father, Mark worries he may have contracted HIV. Despite knowing the lack of treatment options if he were to test positive -- this is the late 1980’s before the age of retro-viral drugs -- Mark is determined to know his fate. Things become complicated when Mark receives a letter from his father wanting to re-establish contact. Roy entering their lives presents further challenges, ones which ultimately threaten Simon and Mark’s continued happiness. Gay teens Sam and Billy play an increasingly important part in Simon and Mark’s lives, often regarding the older men as surrogate fathers/big brothers. Can this unconventional family pull together and become stronger, despite all the world has thrown at them?

Fireside Romance Book 4: Glowing Embers

Mark must have picked up on my thought processes because he said, “We can’t offer you nice scenery like you have near you, but do you want to take a walk to our local park? If there’s no one else around, we might even be able to persuade Simon to go on the swings.” 


“Can’t a guy keep any secrets around here?” I asked. 


“Sure, a walk would be great,” Tom said.


I remembered Cliff saying Tom soon got cabin fever if he was cooped up for too long.


“Where’s Billy today?” Cliff asked Sam as we entered the park’s gates.


Sam filled them in on his boyfriend’s emergency visit to Manchester to see his grandmother. 


“My granny lost her marbles, too,” Tom said. 


We made our way over to the playground and, as we didn’t have an audience, I let my hair down and had a go on the swings. Mark pushed me for a while. Even Cliff got on the swings. Tom said with his weight he might break the chains, so he contented himself by pushing Cliff.


Chapter 7