Tart & Soul

TART & SOUL: It’s a business doing pleasure with you.

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A fun, angsty and sexy tale of young hookers in love.

Cameron Fairchild is an ex-marine plagued by weird allergies and atypical PTSD. Following a violent incident in an upscale department store, the courts release him into the custody of his mother, San Francisco’s premiere madam!

He learns a great deal at his mother’s knee, including how to get down on his own. During the course of his internship, he falls for a pretty young man he first attempts to recruit and later rescues from a nasty pimp. Together, they find love and happiness and a brand spankin’ new definition of monogamy.

TART & SOUL: A male/male contemporary romance (previously published by Torquere Press)
Novella, approx. 75 pages. Available in digital format only.

Reviews (More reviews, below.)
“not your average m/m romance”
“original gay romance with a sense of humor”
“refreshing, at times even wacky”
“strange but interesting”
“one of the most unlikely romances I’ve had the pleasure of reading”
“an unusual and charming story”

Prologue…          Let Us Spray

Harsh fluorescents lit cold, still forms. Unnatural limbs twisted in grim postures. Cameron Fairchild felt covetous eyes tracking his feints and dodges as he threaded his way through unfamiliar terrain. He reached for his sidearm. Shit. Shit. Shit! Gone, along with his military career.

One of the locals approached him. He rebuffed her smoothly, unsure whom to trust. Desperately out of his element, Cam needed to survey the territory before attempting contact.

Sweat dampened his palms, leaving faint marks on the things he touched in passing. His heart rate spiked and his breathing grew erratic as he passed anxiety on his way to full-blown panic. He spied a man waiting in ambush around the next corner. A khaki-clad woman advanced from Cam’s left. Footsteps clack-clacked behind him. He swung right in terror, frantic to escape, his grasp on reality slipping.

A frontal attack then, a young boy with a chemical spray. Cam clawed at his eyes, mind racing through deadly possibilities: saran gas, napalm, cyanide. Which one smelled of sandalwood? Cam twisted round, swinging, felling his assailant with a fierce right hook.

His skin itched and burned and his eyes swelled shut, even as he tore his chemical-soaked clothing from his body, gasping and choking.

The enemy surrounded him now, a barrage of noise and fury. Cam, naked, weaponless and half-blind, struggled and fought. He kicked and punched at shadowy outlines until something cracked across the back of his head. His last blow flew wide as he folded in on himself, collapsing to the floor in slow motion. Black pinpricks danced across his vision, expanding and overlapping until nothing remained but darkness.

 

MORE REVIEWS

5 out of 5 stars! A short novel, strange but interesting. Tart and Soul is a light tale. At times it almost seems like an old movie set in a difficult and dangerous era, but inside the movie all goes right, and the reality never breaks the good mood of the story. The resolution to the most difficult situations is always simple and fast. ~ Elisa Rolle, Eliza’s Reviews

5 out of 5 stars! Tart and Soul is a one of the most unlikely romances I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a long time. …Cam [is] an intriguing character that will charm you despite the unlikely setting. Joshua is more of a secondary character to Cam’s actions but he serves to provide a humorous foil to Cam’s seriousness and to bring a little light into his life. From start to finish Cam and Joshua will capture your attention and then your heart as they clumsily make their way to a life together. Get yourself Tart and Soul the next time you are in the mood for an unusual but charming read! ~ Sabella, for Joyfully Reviewed

5 out of 5 stars! Original gay romance with a sense of humor. Fun characters and a twist on the usual m/m romance make this a short fiction well worth the bit of pocket change it costs to make it yours. This is not your average m/m romance by any means. The character who did endear, besides Cam, is Joshua. Grace’s machinations do bring Cam some direction in the midst of a rough patch in his life, and something clicks when he and Joshua meet. Their meeting is fun and the author does a nice job of giving us their backstories as the two men become acquainted. And vivid backstories they do have, these boys. 🙂 I enjoyed the way the author kept everything moving with a fresh, funny appeal. The characters were wonderfully fleshed out, despite the story’s length, and even a couple of minor characters came as vividly to life, helped by the smart details the author slips in.

My favorite part of the story was the way in which Cam and Joshua find each other again and the ensuing sweetness as they reconnect emotionally and physically. I was wishing this story had been longer, because I wanted more of their relationship. The author has a crisp, uncluttered writing style and a good eye for the right detail to set a scene. I could see it all quite clearly, especially the brothel. I recommend this story to readers looking for something entertainingly off-the-wall, with enough charm to thoroughly win you over, and characters that are memorable and likeable. I will be looking out for more from this author, too.
~ grrluknow, posted to Amazon.com

5 out of 5 stars! This one is refreshing, at times even wacky. Cameron is almost a war hero and you would have thought he is 100% alpha. But he is still very much a “Mummy’s boy” at heart. This may just be a single shot but its cast of characters is well developed. The plot is entertaining, amusing and the romance sweet. I would love to read more from this writer. ~ Robyn Sumire, Posted to the Torquere website

This short yet definitely sweet story was an absolute pleasure to read. Once again, I am not disappointed by author Storm Grant and her amazing storytelling talents. The plot was entertaining and full of drama. The characters were full of life and the sexual tension between Cam and Joshua were very much evident and believable. In addition, I particularly enjoyed the close relationships of Cam to his unconventional mother and father. Thank you Storm Grant for yet another incredibly enjoyable reading experience. ~Jasmina Vallombrosa, TCM Reviews