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

Our bums hadn’t even hit the seats in John’s room before he said, “Hello, Jim. Your result has come back negative. That means you have not been infected with the virus.”


It took me a few seconds to process the news. I began to shake. Mark’s arms were around me. I buried my face in his jacket and let go of all the tension I’d been holding in for the past month or so. Mark was shaking just as much as I was. Disengaging, I could see he, too, was crying. 


“It’s good news.” I sniffed, wondering why we were both in tears.


John offered his hand for us to shake. Sod that,I thought, pulling him into a hug. Then it was Mark’s turn to embrace his counsellor.


John said a few things to us, but none of it sank in. All I knew or cared about was that Mark was negative. He hadn’t contracted the virus; he wasn’t going to die. 


Chapter 12