Tuesday's Best 1-18-2011

Good morning, my lovelies! Hope today finds you well. I know the weather here in the US has been a little crazy (and a lot cold, in most places), so I pray that everyone's safe and sound, and ready for another week. Aradi and I have found a couple of goodies to help you through the day, so let's see what they are, shall we?

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There are always those fics I waffle on reccing because they don’t update as regularly as I’d like, or there just aren’t that many chapters yet.  Again, maybe I can use my feeble mojo to generate some traffic and reviews and motivate another update.

The fic I really wish there were ten more chapters of is Love & Secrets by MinaRivera.  It is a younger Edward/older Carlisle story told from EPOV.  There are currently four chapters and a heartbreaking, begin-at-the-end-(maybe?)-style  prologue.

Edward has a chance meeting with Carlisle while visiting Tokyo.  For Edward, it is love and lust at first sight, and afterward he can’t get the stranger out of his head.

"Sweetheart, are you ok? Are you in pain?"

I looked into my mother's green eyes and saw her concern for me. "I'm fine, why do you ask?"

She looks straight into my eyes. "Well, you've been rubbing your chest every now and then since you sat down. Are you sure you're alright?" she asked me with a raised eyebrow.

I internally flinched at her last question. God, I could even hear the sound of his voice as he asked me that same question. And before I knew it, I felt tears gathering in my eyes. I couldn't deny the reality, anymore.

I missed him. He took a part of me with him when he left that garden, a part of me I'd never be able to get back, a part that I didn't want him to return. All within one surreal moment, I had lost myself in him. My heart ached without him, as if there was a huge hole missing in his absence. I couldn't get him out of my head, nor did I want to.

So Edward is hooked, and Carlisle is... well, we don’t really know.  Edward thinks he’s had an ill-timed meeting with an overseas stranger that he’ll never find again, until he finds out the man isn’t such a stranger and isn’t so far away.  It’s no surprise that Edward and Carlisle run into each other again, and the situation is ripe for angst (as if that wasn’t obvious from the prologue) and UST.  (Edward seems to spend much of his downtime having dirty dreams of Carlisle, so there’s plenty of action even when there isn’t any, if you know what I mean.)

I was wishing for moremmoremore of this story as soon as the first full chapter went up.  Even now, I would kill for twenty more chapters for so many reasons.  The premise is catchy (and who doesn’t love C/E?).  The glimpses of Tokyo (even though I assume we won’t see much more of that) were fascinating.  This Edward is a new spin on the often-done SpoiledLittleRichWard.  He’s the son of jet-setting stars, and of course he’s spoiled, but he’s not the asshole he ususally turns out to be.  He’s interested in food and cooking!  He loves his family.  He loves tattoos, and his best friend is a girl.  He’s really quite an interesting character and we’ve barely gotten to know him.

Side note:  MinaRivera is in Ecuador and says on her author page that she writes in both English (obviously!) and Spanish.  Can I just say how envious I am of people who can do that?  I’m barely coherent in one language!

Again, if YoungWard and Doctor C float your boat, try out Love & Secrets.  There’s UST and angst and Japanese culture and pervy young Edward.  And hopefully much, much more!

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Every once in a while, you come across a story that has you just go... “Unf!” I do, at least. Now of course, this happens fairly regularly, but what makes stories like My Kind of Blonde, by evieeden stand out, is that it delivers one kind of ‘unf’, only to turn around, and hit you again. And then again.

What am I talking about, you ask? Well, I can only give away part of it, or else it’ll spoil all the fun. The first thing that had me go ‘unf’, is a very lovely Geekward. At work. In the library. Need I say more?

He’s working the closing shift at the (college?) library, and has to deal with certain blonds. You know them - Lauren and Jessica? Yeah. They’re convinced Edward is either lying when he says he’s gay, or that they can ‘turn’ him straight. Mhmm, sure girls.

While poor Edward is trying to fend them off, they get interrupted by another blond. One much more to our boy’s liking. Ever the good employee, he of course sets out to see if he can help this student with his quest for certain books.

He raised an eyebrow suggestively at that, but didn't say anything. "I need to find your section on Victorian pornography."

My breath caught, not exactly sure what my reply was supposed to be. It almost sounded like he was flirting with me, but I didn't want to push my luck and end up embarrassing myself.

"Victorian pornography. Right. Is that what you're studying?" I asked as I began to type into the library's search engine.

"Sort of."

Well now...certainly an interesting study topic, wouldn’t you think? It’s definitely one that has our boy more than a little flustered, especially as Mr. blond explains himself.

Whether they’re successful in finding books on that topic or not, you’ll have to read for yourself. Believe me when I say, that what they find, is very well worth reading.

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There you have it, folks, another couple of delightful goodies to sink your teeth into. Be sure to leave these wonderful authors some love, and check back next week to see what Aradi and Captain Jezebel have in store for you.

In the mean time, run on over to The Twilight No Stress Love Fest being hosted by naelany and OnTheTurningAway. It's not a contest, so no judging, no stressing. It is, however, anonymous, so that we all get to have some fun guessing who wrote (or made, as art is also very much welcome) what. There are 45 prompts you can use however you please - just one, or combine several, your choice. All of them revolve around love and Valentine's Day. Come on, have a go. It's only 500 words minimum. Who doesn't want to spread a little love around, eh?