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    A Limited Engagement
    A Limited Engagement
    A Limited Engagement
    Ebook34 pages23 minutes

    A Limited Engagement

    By Josh Lanyon

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Ross has done everything Adam has asked him to do, including giving the man a part in his new play. All he wants is for Adam to keep his mouth shut about Ross' real life, which contradicts his image as a straight playwright. Adam knows that Ross has to face his true self, though, and he's ready to do whatever it takes to make Ross see the truth. Will all of Adam's effort backfire, or will Ross take what he needs?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJosh Lanyon
    Release dateDec 6, 2011
    ISBN9780984766932
    A Limited Engagement
    Author

    Josh Lanyon

    Author of 100+ titles of Gay Mystery and M/M Romance, Josh Lanyon has built a literary legacy on twisty mystery, kickass adventure, and unapologetic man-on-man romance. Her work has been translated into twelve languages. She is an EPIC Award winner, a four-time Lambda Literary Award finalist (twice for Gay Mystery), an Edgar nominee, and the first ever recipient of the Goodreads All Time Favorite M/M Author award.

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    Reviews for A Limited Engagement

    3.5/5

    57 ratings3 reviews

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    • 5/5
      A poignant short story. It is always amazing how much can be said and told in such a small space.
    • 4/5
      Utterly miserable but it works. :)
    • 4/5
      Big surprises come in small packages – and this short story is a perfect example for this well known idiom. Take two men who are deeply in love, make sure one of them is closeted enough to get engaged to a woman to “prove” he is not gay, and add a range of desperately devious activities, stir well, and the result is as disquieting and unusual as it is scary. ‘A Limited Engagement’ is so much more than its few pages suggest, and while it is in no way a traditional story, it is nevertheless a very telling one about courage, desperation, and the need for honesty in the face of disapproval from those too bigoted to understand that love is love.

      Adam comes off as the wronged man at first, but not for very long. He’s a sneaky guy – and I am still not sure that his well-intentioned nastiness deserves a happy ending. Yes, he is in love. Yes, he means well when he tries to get Ross to stop marrying a woman, making both of them unhappy. But Adam’s methods – blackmail followed by a public outing – are somewhere between debatable and despicable. Most people would find his actions unforgivable, even Adam admits that he doesn’t expect Ross to forgive him. He may hope so, but he knows he has no right to expect it.

      Ross is a lot older than Adam, an experienced playwright, and not willing to risk his career by coming out. He is livid when Adam ruins his life. When he first storms into the cabin they shared for a vacation, at the beginning of this story, he is ready to kill Adam. It’s a pretty close call, but then they end up talking, and things change.

      If you like character-driven stories, if a portrait of a man caught in society’s expectations and his lover who could not care less sounds interesting, and if you’re looking for a read that is as explosive and surprising as it is short, then you will probably like this free short story.

    Book preview

    A Limited Engagement - Josh Lanyon

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    Ross has done everything Adam has asked him to do, including giving the boy a part in his new play. All he asks in return is that Adam keep his mouth shut about Ross' private life. But still Adam keeps pushing for more. What exactly does he want--and is he really willing to destroy both of them to get it?

    A Limited Engagement

    Josh Lanyon

    I heard the key in the lock, switched on the porch light, and opened the door.

    The rain poured off the roof of the cabin in a shining fall of silver needles, bouncing and splashing off the redwood deck. Ross stood there, blue eyes blacker than the night, the amber porch light giving his skin a jaundiced cast.

    You’re here, he said in disbelief. The disbelief gave way instantly to the rage he’d been banking down for — well, probably since the newspapers came out that morning. Even in the unwholesome porch light I could see his face flush dark and his eyes change.

    I stepped back — partly to let him in, because really what choice did I have? Even if I’d wanted to keep him out, it was his cabin. Partly because…it was Ross and I had no walls and no doors and no defenses against him.

    He followed me inside, shaking his wet, black hair out of his eyes. He wasn’t wearing gloves, and his hands were red from the cold. His Joseph Abboud overcoat dripped in a silent puddle around his expensively shod feet. I am going to kill you, he said carefully and quietly, and he launched himself at me.

    I jumped back, my foot slipped on the little oriental throw rug, and I went down, crashing into the walnut side table, knocking it — and the globe lamp atop it — over. The lamp smashed on the wooden floor, shards of painted flowers scattering down the hallway.

    Ross’s cold hands locked around my throat. Big hands, powerful hands —

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