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 used some of the melting wax to stick the candles to saucers that he’d also brought with him. Setting them on the coffee table he ruffled Sam’s hair. “It’s all right, pet.” 


“I’m just being a baby,” Sam said. “We’ve covered what happens during a thunder storm in physics, so I know what’s going on. It’s just the noise and the bright flashes that scare me.”


Just then we were treated to another round of the awesome forces of nature.


“I was born during a storm,” Billy told us. “They never really bother me.” 


“Do we still want to play Trivial Pursuit?” I asked, wondering if doing so would help take Sam’s mind off the storm.


“Might as well,” Sam said, lifting his head from Billy’s chest and sitting up.


We divided into teams, I sat with Billy, and Sam went to be with Mark on the other sofa.


I think the game helped Sam a little; the storm certainly didn’t affect his question-answering skills, as he and Mark easily won the game.


Chapter 42