My holiday story, Drag And Drop is available today from MLR Press.

It’s a short novella about how two young lovers celebrate New Years in Key West Florida and I hope you’ll have a look.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=KGDRGDRP

You don’t even have to own a Kindle to participate. How cool is that?

Just go to the following link, choose the book you want the autograph for and that’s it. Easy peasy, right?

http://www.kindlegraph.com/authors/kimberauthor,

I’m incredibly excited as this will be my first signing and because I am a long-time fangirl of so many of these writers. Here is a link to the event. I hope to see you there. It promises to be a fun evening.

http://www.giovannisroom.com/event/evening-gay-mens-romance

But yeah, I am pretty excited about this. The Beanpot contest sponsored by the New England chapter of RWA is a well-respected and reader-judged contest.

The other awesome thing is the book competed against other books in the erotic category including non-LGBT titles and placed second.

WooHoo!

My new novella, Almost Heaven, went live yesterday! Yay!

It’s my first publication with Loose-ID and I’m totally pumped about it. I feel like I won the lottery. But I always feel like that on release day. Lol!

Anyway, here’s the 411 on the book and an excerpt to give you a little taste.

Almost Heaven

By Kimberly Gardner

ISBN:     978-1-60737-873-0

Genre:     LGBT Contemporary

Length:     Novella

Celebrating “Coming Out Day” 2010

When Chris meets Kevin at his brother’s school, he instantly gets hot for teacher. He can only hope that the sexy guy is gay. Later, when Kevin shows up at the gym where Chris works, Chris is sure he’s got him hooked. A shared kiss is absolutely electric but then Kevin turns tail and runs. What the hell? Maybe he’s in the closet.

Yes, in fact, Kevin is in the closet, Deep in the closet. He has to be. He’s going to be a priest. While he’s very attracted to Chris, he simply can’t pursue it. Giving in to that attraction would ruin his life. Still, he can’t deny what he feels so instead he vows to stay away from Chris.

But steering clear is not so easy when what you’ve found is Almost Heaven.

Copyright 2010 by Kimberly Gardner, all rights reserved.

Excerpt

He should definitely not be here.

Kevin crossed the parking lot at Live Well Fitness as the lights flickered on and beat back the encroaching darkness. The chilly evening breeze ruffled his hair. He shivered and quickened his pace.

He should leave now, go running over at the college or do some strength training, anything but this.

Hand raised to open the door, Kevin stopped. Once he opened that door and walked in and asked for Christian Talleo, it would be too late. But he could still leave, walk away, go back to his room, and pretend he’d never come here. Yes, he could still do that, and everything would be fine; no one would know, and his life would go on just as it was.

The door opened, and a woman in a pink sweat suit and carrying a matching workout bag emerged. She held the door and smiled at him.

When Kevin reached for the door, she motioned with her head. “Go ahead. I’ve got it.”

Chivalry really was on life support, if not entirely dead.

He nodded his thanks and stepped inside.

The smell greeted him first. New carpet, fresh paint, and an underlying essence of sweat. The perky brunette at the front desk greeted him next.

“Hi. Your name, please?” Long, glitter-polished nails tapped keys on her computer.

“I’m not a member.” He paused, took a breath. “Is Chris Talleo working tonight?”

“Yes, he is.” More tapping of keys. “Let me just make sure he’s not with a client, and I’ll page him for you.”

Maybe Chris would be with a client. Please, let him be with a client.

“Nope, he’s free.” She picked up the phone.

Kevin opened his mouth to tell her forget it, never mind, don’t call him.

“Chris Talleo to the front. Chris?” She hung up the phone. “He’ll be right with you.” She pointed to a clutch of chairs in an alcove across from the desk. “You can have a seat over there, if you want.”

Kevin crossed to the alcove and sat down. A pile of glossy fitness magazines lay on a small table. He picked up the top one and flipped it open. On the page, a blonde in a minuscule orange-polka-dot bikini drank from a bottle, her eyes half-closed in apparent ecstasy. What the heck were they selling, anyway?

Kevin stared at the picture without really seeing it. He should be back in the library working on his paper that was due Monday or preparing his presentation for Friday’s public-speaking class. He should not be sitting in a health club waiting for a gorgeous, green-eyed Adonis to come and whisk him away.

And why not? He could have friends. Everyone had friends. It had been a long time since he’d met anyone he liked right off the bat. Someone he just wanted to hang out with. Just because Chris had looked at him like he wanted to eat him up with a spoon didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends. Just because you could light a lamp with the electricity that arced between them…

Kevin sighed. He’d been wrong to come here. Wrong to let himself linger over how Chris’s gaze had skimmed down his body or how Chris’s fingertips had trailed over his palm. He would tell Chris everything tonight and set the relationship on the proper track. Assuming there was even a relationship or a track or anything.

And what if Chris hadn’t been flirting at all? What if he was just making an overture of friendship? Kevin had never been very adept at picking up signals or sending them out. Suppose he was completely wrong.

“Hey, Kevin! Good to see you.”

Kevin’s gaze lifted. Chris stood little more than an arm’s reach away. He wore black shorts and a black-and-white shirt that bore the club insignia over one of his well-developed pectorals. His skin was flushed, gleaming with a light sheen of sweat, a few tendrils of damp black hair curling around his face.

Kevin inhaled. Was it his imagination, or could he actually smell him?

Dropping the magazine on the table, he got to his feet. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“No, not at all. I was showing one of the members a new machine that just came in, and I worked up kind of a sweat.” Chris caught Kevin’s hand and held it for a moment. Not a handshake exactly, more like a… Kevin didn’t know what. But there were those sparks again, jumping from Chris’s fingers to his.

Kevin pulled his hand back, maybe too abruptly. “Okay. Well. Good. That’s good.”

Chris’s smile dimmed a couple of degrees. He slid his hands into the pockets of his shorts. “So, anything in particular you’d like to start with? Weights? Cardio? The pool?”

Kevin pictured Chris’s perfect body slicing through clear, blue-tinted water. “I didn’t bring my suit.”

“We have a sauna and a steam room too. I could get you a towel. It’s all you’d need in there.” He winked.

“Oh. Uh…”

Kevin imagined the two of them in the steam room. Alone…and sweaty…and naked.

“So, what’ll it be?”

Kevin was sure his face was going to burst into flames at any moment. He swallowed. “Wherever you want to start is fine with me.”

Chris studied him for a long moment, the hint of a smile playing around his full lips — lips that Kevin had thought far too much about over the past two days.

Chris shrugged and glanced away. “Okay, well, c’mon, then. I’ll just show you around. You can try out some of the equipment if you want, and we can talk about your needs.” Over his shoulder, he said, “Lori, I’m doing a new-member tour.”

“Gotcha,” The girl at the desk gave them a little finger wave, her nail polish flashing.

“I don’t know if I’m actually going to join.” Kevin fell into step beside Chris.

“Don’t worry about it. That’ll just keep them from calling me. As long as they think I’m giving you the pitch, then I’m all yours.”

Chris was all his. And they were going to talk about his needs. Great. Kevin’s stomach jittered with an intoxicating mix of nerves and excitement.

Stop it! He’s talking about your fitness needs.

He followed Chris down a flight of steps and through a doorway. In the weight room, the sweaty smell was sharper, more pronounced. Kevin’s nostrils flared, and something tightened low in his belly. All around them, skin glistened with sweat as muscles bunched and flexed, perfect male bodies pumped and pressed.

Chris led the way to a bench. “Do you lift?”

“Some.”

“Want to do some reps? I’ll spot you.” Without waiting for an answer, Chris hefted a barbell and set it on the stand.

Hopefully the weight he’d chosen wouldn’t be too heavy. The last thing Kevin wanted was to humiliate himself in front of this shining example of male fitness.

Kevin lay back on the bench. Chris positioned himself above Kevin’s head. Kevin set his hands on the bar, and Chris’s hands ghosted just above it.

“Try two sets of ten reps. If the weight’s too much, let me know, and I’ll grab a lighter one.”

Kevin shut his eyes. Lying there with Chris so close, he could definitely smell him, sweat and something sharper, more elemental. Kevin’s cock twitched.

Taking a breath, he pressed the bar up and raised it from the stand. It was a bit heavier than he was used to, but not bad. Chris counted. Kevin worked.

The first set went okay. But by the third rep, second set, Kevin was drenched in sweat. By the fifth rep, his muscles were trembling, and he was having trouble keeping his breaths even.

“Five more… Four… Three. C’mon, baby, two more. You can do it. I’ll help you.”

Kevin pushed. The bar lifted, far more easily than before. Clearly, Chris was taking a lot of the weight off Kevin’s straining arms.

“Ten! Yeah! Awesome!” The bar clanked, metal against metal, as they lowered it to the stand. Chris took something from his pocket.

Kevin sat up and wiped sweat from his eyes. “What’s that?”

“It’s my PDA. I’m just making a note to myself. When I set up your routine, I need to remember what weights we used.” He entered something, then stuffed the PDA back in his pocket. “I think this one was a little too much.”

“Don’t go to a lot of trouble. I’m not even –”

“It’s no trouble. It’s what I do.” He leaned in and spoke confidentially. “Don’t feel like you have to join. Of course you didn’t hear that from me.” He winked. “I can give you the info, so even if you go somewhere else…”

“Where else would I want to go?” Good Lord, had he just said that? Out loud and everything?

Chris studied him. His eyes held a speculative look; one dark brow lifted.

“You look hot, Kevin.”

Kevin’s jaw dropped. No one had ever come right out and said that to him before. And besides, Chris was the hottie, not him.

“Want to go get something to drink?” Chris gave Kevin’s shoulder a squeeze. “You look like you could use something cold.”

“Oh,” Kevin said, his ego a tad deflated.

Hot. Sweaty. Dying. Yeah.

Kevin stood unsteadily, but not, he thought, entirely from the exertion, and followed Chris. Instead of going to the juice bar, which they’d passed on the way to the weight room, Chris led him through a maze of hallways and stopped before a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.

He pushed it open and gestured for Kevin to go ahead. “This is the trainers’ break room. But nobody ever uses it.”

He should not be alone with this man. No. Uh-uh. Bad idea.

Kevin went in.

The room was medium large with plain cinder-block walls. On the far wall hung a bulletin board next to a door marked EMERGENCY EXIT. Someone had propped it open with a book, which belied the assertion no one ever used this room, didn’t it?

A cool breeze blew through the gap in the door and dried the sweat on Kevin’s face.

The furniture consisted of two small couches, a table and four chairs, a small fridge, a TV, and a coffeepot.

Chris went to the fridge, opened it, and took out two bottles of water. He tossed one to Kevin, then opened the other and drank deeply.

Kevin watched the muscles work in Chris’s throat as he swallowed. As if on its own, Kevin’s gaze slid down the other man’s body, the snug-fitting uniform showing off everything in excruciating detail. Broad shoulders, muscular chest, flat, impeccably toned abs with a perfect six-pack.

Kevin’s gaze continued down. Oh God. He could see, well…everything. His cock twitched and began to fill.

Oh. Crap.

Kevin tore his gaze away, cracked open his own water, and took a long swallow. What he should do was pour the icy liquid over his head or down his pants.

Chris lowered his water bottle, wiped his lips with the back of one hand, and grinned at Kevin. “Man, all that watching you sweat made me thirsty.”

Kevin laughed, and the water went down the wrong pipe. He choked. Water ran down his chin and soaked the front of his T-shirt.

Chris rushed to him and pounded him between the shoulder blades hard enough to crack a vertebra. “Easy, Kevin. Man, I’m sorry.”

Two more thumps landed on Kevin’s back before he was able to drag in a wheezy breath. “Okay. Stop. Please, Chris, you’re killing me.”

“Oh shit, sorry, man.” Chris rubbed a slow circle in the same spot he’d pounded on just a moment before.

Kevin felt the heat of Chris’s palm through his sweat-soaked T-shirt, and suddenly he was very aware of just how close Chris was, close enough Kevin could feel the heat of his body. And now he could very definitely smell him. A little hot, a little sweaty, and a lot male.

Help me, Kevin prayed, because I am so over my head here. He sure hoped God was listening right about now.

Up this close, Kevin could see the tiny flecks of amber and gold in Chris’s eyes. His long, sooty lashes looked as soft as angel’s wings. He was sure they would tickle if –

No. Just…no.

Chris took Kevin’s water bottle and set it on the table beside his own.

Move, Kevin’s brain screamed. Step back! Push him away. Do something!

But Kevin did nothing, only stood perfectly still, as if mesmerized by Chris’s eyes and the shape of his lips and the heat of the hand against his back, each long finger clear and distinct through his shirt.

Chris leaned forward.

Kevin leaned forward.

Their lips touched. Chris teased the closed seam of Kevin’s lips. Let me in, the touch said. Kevin sighed, his lips parting enough to allow Chris’s tongue inside.

Strong fingers tangled in Kevin’s hair and angled his head so the kiss could go deeper. Chris slid his other arm around Kevin’s waist and pulled him close against that lean, hard body.

Chris broke the kiss. “Hold on to me, Kevin. Kiss me back. I know you want to.”

He did want to, with every fiber of his being. God help him.

Kevin wrapped his arms around Chris and held on. It was that or crumple to the floor and die. He could count on one hand the number of people he’d kissed. And never, in all his twenty-four years of life, had anyone kissed him like this, like he was being tasted, sampled before the big banquet, the one for which he was the main course.

Blood rushed in his head. It pounded in his ears and in his loins. His skin felt hot all over, burning where his body pressed against Chris’s.

“Why so tense, baby?” Chris rubbed his lips over Kevin’s. “Haven’t you ever kissed a guy before?”

“Not like this,” Kevin whispered.

“Well, just relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” His hands slid down Kevin’s back to his ass. Cupped and squeezed, angling their bodies for more intimate contact.

Chris’s erection brushed against Kevin’s. He gasped.

“God, you feel so good.” Chris trailed kisses along Kevin’s jaw, then nipped at his earlobe. “I want you so bad, Kevin.” Another nip. “You know it, don’t you? You feel it — how hard you make me?”

“Yes.” Kevin shut his eyes.

God. God. God. With the heat of Chris’s arousal rubbing against his, it was all the thought he could manage, and under the circumstances, even that much prayer was probably blasphemous.

“Come home with me, baby.” Chris slid his hand between their bodies and wrapped his fingers around Kevin’s erection, as far as he could through the sweatpants he still wore. “I’ll make you feel so good.”

Kevin opened his mouth, but no words came out. He swallowed, licked his lips, and tried again. “I can’t.” He gripped Chris’s wrist but couldn’t muster the will to push that hand away. Oh, but he was so weak.

“Why not?” Chris stroked him. “We’ll go slow. I won’t do anything you don’t want, I promise.” He swiped his thumb over the head of Kevin’s hardness.

Kevin whimpered.

How could he explain that was the problem? He wanted, at least with his flesh, whatever this man wanted to do to him.

Buy the book!

http://www.loose-id.com/Almost-Heaven.aspx

The anthology I

m in along with my friends Jet Mykles and Charlie Cochrane, Encore! Encore!, just got a new review. It got four kisses from Lisa at Michele and Jeff’s review blog.

Lisa called the antho a “great read” and had lots of nice things to say about all three stories. About my story His Leading Man she said,

”
I was entirely invested in the outcome of the challenges these two wonderful characters faced. The plot was perfectly paced, keeping me turning pages in earnest in hopes of finding a happy ending. This was a story of sacrifice, of overcoming obstacles, and of realizing what will ultimately bring true joy and satisfaction to life.”

You can read the review in its entirety at the following link.

http://michelenjeff-reviews.blogspot.com/2010/09/encore-encore-by-jet-mykles-charlie.html

I got a very nice review for my novel, Bound To Please from Christina at Romance Junkies.

She says in part, “Ms. Gardner has created three very distinctive and fascinating heroes. I enjoyed getting to know them. Each man brings unique strengths to the relationship. Benny, Rain, and Jason may be very different but they work well together. Things aren’t always easy between them but as they work together to overcome their problems they grow closer. I also liked the way that all three of them relate to each other individually. Benny has strong feelings for both Jason and Rain and vice versa. Their relationship is complex and very believable. BOUND TO PLEASE by Kimberly Gardner is a compelling and satisfying BDSM romance.”

Read the entire review,

http://romancejunkiesreviews.com/artman/publish/contemporary/Bound_To_Please_KG.shtml

I got home from RWA yesterday and found this wonderful review in my Inbox. The reviewer says in part,

“Author Kimberly Gardner weaves a tale of desperation, heartache, and the need to be accepted for who you are with skill and talent.”

You can read the entire review at the following link. 

http://www.joyfullyreviewed.com/recommended-reviews/august-2010-recommended-reads/bound-to-please-by-kimberly-gardner

Of fame …

Tonight I’m going to be reading at the Erotic Literary Salon.

http://theeroticsalon.com/

The salon is a wonderful group of erotic literature enthusiasts who meet on the third Tuesday of every month to read aloud and enjoy erotic writing. The salon is a warm and welcoming place that meets at the Bohemian Absinth Lounge, locate at 13th and Sansom St.

I’ll be reading aloud from my novel, Bound To Please, the reading to be followed by a Q&A.

I’m very excited about this event and would love to see some familiar and supportive faces in the crowd.

I just got a contract with Loose-ID, a brand new publisher for me. The story, as yet untitled, is a contemporary, novella-length work that celebrates national coming out day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coming_Out_Day 

As such, the story will be available in October.

I’m really excited to be part of the LI family of authors.