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Grateful
Grateful
Grateful
Ebook64 pages38 minutes

Grateful

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Nate Roth’s latest dumb stunt has left him with a broken arm, black eye, and stitched chin—and extra trepidation about visiting his family for Hanukkah. He fears his relatives will put him through another round of criticism for his foolish choices and his nonexistent love life. Several mishaps during his short journey to his parents’ house don’t bode well. But along the way he meets impossibly gorgeous Gio DiPietro—and maybe it’s time for Nate’s risk-taking impulses to turn out well for a change.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2015 Advent Calendar package "Sleigh Ride".

LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 1, 2015
ISBN9781634769433
Grateful
Author

Kim Fielding

Kim Fielding is pleased every time someone calls her eclectic. Her books span a variety of genres, but all include authentic voices and unconventional heroes. She’s a Rainbow Award and SARA Emma Merritt winner, a LAMBDA finalist, and a two-time Foreword INDIE finalist. She has migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States and currently lives in California, where she long ago ran out of bookshelf space. A university professor who dreams of being able to travel and write full-time, she also dreams of having two daughters who occasionally get off their phones, a husband who isn’t obsessed with football, and a cat who doesn’t wake her up at 4:00 a.m. Some dreams are more easily obtained than others. Blogs: kfieldingwrites.com and www.goodreads.com/author/show/4105707.Kim_Fielding/blog Facebook: www.facebook.com/KFieldingWrites Email: kim@kfieldingwrites.com Twitter: @KFieldingWrites

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Rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    'Grateful' is an absolutely delightful story that pulled me in with its humor, Nate's crazy stunts, and the message of love and acceptance throughout. The tone is light, yet some of the truths Nate believes about himself are quite painful, and he could easily sink into depression. The fact that he doesn't is proof of his strength, and I loved reading this story about him realizing he's much more loved than he feared.

    Nate is definitely an interesting man. No matter how ridiculous the things are that seem to "happen" to Nate, his spirit is irrepressible, and he knows how to have fun. He's like a big kid who knows how to enjoy himself, and that can be very attractive. But he also thinks that his family must think he's an idiot and is almost scared to see them for Hanukkah. As for presents? He has no idea what to get them

    Gio, a man Nate meets at a freeway rest station, definitely finds Nate intriguing. And that's just from seeing him with one arm in a cast, a black eye, and stitches in his chin. Gio's life isn't half as interesting as Nate's and he decides he'll hang on to Nate to see what happens. Since Gio also thinks Nate is cute, this is by no means a hardship.

    If you like stories about men who are unusually accident-prone, if a close family (even though they can come across as meddling) is your thing and if you're looking for an entertaining read that is as sweet as it is emotional, then you will probably like this short story.


    NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

Book preview

Grateful - Kim Fielding

Grateful

By Kim Fielding

Nate Roth’s latest dumb stunt has left him with a broken arm, black eye, and stitched chin—and extra trepidation about visiting his family for Hanukkah. He fears his relatives will put him through another round of criticism for his foolish choices and his nonexistent love life. Several mishaps during his short journey to his parents’ house don’t bode well. But along the way he meets impossibly gorgeous Gio DiPietro—and maybe it’s time for Nate’s risk-taking impulses to turn out well for a change.

YOU KNOW those times when you’re goofing off at work, and instead of rocking your spreadsheet or selling widgets, you’re surfing for stupid GIFs? The ones where some idiot body-slams a cactus, or drives into a swimming pool, or walks face-first into a glass door. Really funny, right? Way better than writing your boss another report on quarterly toilet paper usage, or whatever it is you’re getting paid to do.

But here’s the thing: I’m that idiot.

Okay, not all the time. I’m not responsible for all the stupidity on the Internet. Just more than my fair share.

I don’t plan to be that guy you see ramming a forklift into the shelving. It’s just that I tend to act first and think later. Plus, I’m naturally a klutz. Add to that an unfortunate tendency to pick friends who egg me on for comedic effects and, well, there I am. Climbing on the roof and pretending to be Batman, but then skidding off and landing on my ass. Taking a dare to eat a whole habanero. Riding down a really steep hill on some kid’s tricycle.

That last one? That’s how I ended up with the cast on my arm, the limp, the black eye, and the stitches on my chin. The trip to the ER wasn’t so bad; they all know me there. They’re threatening to give me a punch card—make ten visits, get the eleventh for free—and I’m not sure they’re kidding. Besides, two of the doctors are drool-worthy younger guys, and a third has that whole DILF thing going, with that sexy silvering in his perfect hair and just enough softness around the middle to make you daydream about squeezing him.

But now the holidays are biting at my heels, and I look—and feel—like an extra from The Walking Dead. Which I suppose would be okay if the holiday in question were Halloween, but it isn’t. Nope, Hanukkah is fast approaching, which means I face a two-hour drive, followed by a flood of relatives who will want to know, in detail and repeatedly, why I’m looking so postapocalyptic. And although my family’s used to my ways, it’s kind of embarrassing for a thirty-year-old accounts receivable clerk to explain why he did a header over the handlebars of a trike.

DOES YOUR face hurt? asked Julia.

We were sitting in the break room, me with a huge coffee I’d probably end up spilling on my lap, and she with a Greek yogurt and a waiting stack of napkins. She knows me well.

Julia is my office

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