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

Tom laughed, but Sam and Billy didn’t get the joke.


“Tim plays the piano at the King George. We went to visit him at his house once so I could practise a few songs,” Mark explained.


“And when Cliff and me turned up as well, the poor man flapped around wondering where he’d put everyone,” Tom finished. 


“Does Tim have a partner?” Billy asked.


“No, Dougie died a few years ago.” 


“What happened to him?” Billy asked.


Cliff looked over at us. I nodded. There wasn’t any reason why the boys shouldn’t know.


“Doug died of an AIDS-related condition. He was ill for quite a while, but he couldn’t fight off his last bout of pneumonia.”


This brought an element of sadness to the evening. I took Mark’s hand. Given what we’d been talking about earlier, I had a pretty fair idea what was going through his mind.


“The coffee maker should have done its thing by now,” I said, wanting to lighten the mood. “Mark, will you give me a hand?” 


Mark nodded, smiled, and came into the kitchen with me.


Chapter 8