The Mature Man's Guide to Surviving Change by Chris Scully – Stocking Stuffers

In the sunny playground of Palm Springs, growing up was something confirmed bachelor and bad-boy chef Joel avoided at all costs—until a close friend’s death made him reevaluate his priorities. Ever since, he’s been dedicated to helping his widowed friend Perry get back on his feet by teaching him to cook and providing a shoulder to cry on. But when Perry announces that he’s ready to start dating again and then begins receiving gifts from an anonymous secret Santa, Joel is forced to confront the feelings he’s suppressed for so long.

As Joel struggles with jealousy and guilt amid the holiday season, he must decide if he’s ready to grow up and reach for what he’s always wanted but never thought he could have.

Day 6
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Dreamspinner Press

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Angela – ☆☆☆☆
I thoroughly enjoyed The Mature Man’s Guide to Surviving Change. This holiday novelette made for an entertaining couple hours of reading as Joel comes to terms with the life changes he’s made since his best friend’s death, the feelings he has for Perry (his best friend’s husband), and his jealousy and insecurity when Perry begins receiving gifts from a secret admirer, especially after Perry announces that he’s ready to start dating again.

Joel is a wonderful contradiction of a character. Normally confident in his love life, while being more passive in his career, Joel made a major change in his life when his best friend, Dale, died – he quit his prestigious position as an executive chef to start his own business. Now his professional confidence is bolstered while his personal confidence has flagged since he’s no longer interested in flings. Unfortunately for Joel, the object of his affection is off-limits in his mind. Not only is Perry his best friend’s widower, Joel is nothing like Dale and cannot imagine Perry being interested in him romantically. So, Joel takes comfort in the only role in Perry’s life he believes he can have – as a close friend. Fortunately for Perry (and the reader), Joel is forced to reexamine his place in Perry’s life when a secret admirer begins sending Perry gifts.

Watching Joel accept that it’s okay for him to want more than friendship with Perry was sweet. Between Joel’s conversations with a former fling and another close friend, it’s easy to see that Dale’s death affected him greatly, causing him to grow up a bit and want more from his partner than just a quick tumble. I enjoyed watching the attention of others for Perry light a fire under Joel’s behind. The best part was when we learned who Perry’s secret admirer was. I didn’t see that coming and really enjoyed the twist. Scully’s The Mature Man’s Guide to Surviving Change is an enjoyable holiday read that’s a great reminder that we’re never too old for love.

CHRIS SCULLY lives in Toronto, Canada. She grew up spinning romantic stories in her head and always dreamed of one day being a writer even though life had other plans. Her characters have accompanied her through career turns as a librarian and an IT professional, until finally, to escape the tedium of a corporate day job, she took a chance and began putting her daydreams down on paper in her spare time.

She is an avid reader and tries to bring pieces of other genres and styles to her stories. While her head is crammed full of all the things she’d like to try writing, her focus is always on the characters first, and the happy endings they deserve. She describes her characters as authentic, ordinary people, faults and all—the kind of guy you might meet on the street or the one who might be your best friend. She currently divides her time between a mundane 9-5 cubicle job and a much more interesting fantasy life.

Although keeping up with social media is sometimes a challenge, she does her best and loves to hear from readers.

Connect with Chris

Facebook  ~  Blog  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Stocking Stuffers: The Mature Man's Guide to Surviving Change by Chris Scully to read and review.

Happy by Chris Scully

Growing up Greek-Canadian, Peter Georgiou always knew his duty was to his family, for whom twenty-first century rules don’t apply. In his early thirties, Peter still lives at home, dates who his parents tell him to, and works at the family restaurant. But watching his two best friends find happiness in each other’s arms has made him worry over his destiny.

When Louie Papadakis returns home to nurse his broken heart and start a new life, he can’t believe his sister is dating his high school crush, Peter. There’s a sadness behind Peter’s eyes that draws him in, and a chemistry he wishes he could ignore. After his closeted ex broke his heart, Louie is afraid to fall in love again, especially with a man who's keeping secrets.

As Peter finds himself drawn to Louie in unexpected ways, old and new worlds collide. Then a family crisis forces Peter’s hand, and he must decide if he’s willing to sacrifice his happiness for family duty.

Buy Links

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Dreamspinner  Press

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
5 Happy Stars.

I was in a feral mood when I began this book. To be totally honest, I was getting on my own nerves, and this angry, volatile, and unsettling mood isn't my norm. Upon starting Happy, I was able to relax, and well, I felt – HAPPY

Our narrators are Peter and Louie. Peter is a loyal, hard-working man who has never truly lived his own life. Greek, his family moved to Canada when he was a baby. They opened up a Greek restaurant, and their entire lives surrounded it. Once, Peter escaped, only to be drawn back when his father had a heart attack. While he's there to help, his father won't let him. Then there is the mother – she knows who Peter truly is and it terrifies her, so she's always arranging his future marriages to nice Greek women. While on the surface, his parents sound awful, as the only child, Peter understands they love him, need him, and don't want to lose him. All of their issues stem from very real, everyday fears parents have, so even though they frustrated me, I appreciated their actions/reactions.

Peter is trapped. He's sad. He's not sexually confused, so don't get up-in-arms over what he wants in a partner. He knows exactly who he is, and is only willing to either make his mother happy or break her heart for the one. He had thought he found the one before, but Elena crushed him when she married another. Now Peter is dating a nice Greek girl five years his junior.

In walks Louie. The girlfriend's big brother, who's home after a bad breakup with a bi guy who is trapped in the closet. Out and proud, sick of feeling like their community's pariah. Louie will hide nothing, and he won't deal with someone who will.

I thoroughly enjoy Chris Scully's writing style. It's fluid, flowing from scene to scene in a realistic way. The characters are always developed and easy for the reader to identify with. Peter and Louie's relationship grows over the course of the book. The journey is friendship laced with attraction. Their need to spend time with each other, to learn each other on all levels, instead of just lying in bed getting sexual gratification, was a breath of fresh air. It made it feel real for me as a reader, instead of the story buried beneath the lust. Not that anything is wrong with a 100% lusty book, but sometimes I want some more depth than just a good time. After the slow-burn, it was hotter than Hades. I felt like I was being rewarded right alongside the characters.

The side cast of characters were developed, enjoyable and interesting, made real with flaws and all. I need to ask if Joe & Adam have their own book somewhere. It just felt like they may have. If anyone knows, can they let me know? If not, I'm satisfied with what I read of them. If so, I'd love to read it. The reason I ask is because Happy is listed as not in a series.

As I said, I started Happy in a bad mood, an illogical female mood if you catch my drift. Like taking a happy pill, I spent four hours smiling to myself, chuckling underneath my breath, and blushing with the characters. Happy was sweet, Happy was frustrating, and Happy was entertaining as all get out.

MM romance fans will adore this story and its characters. Previously I've only read Until September by Chris Scully, and look forward to more of her stories in the future.


Veronica – ☆☆☆☆
The story starts with Peter contemplating if he is Happy. He clearly is not. He gave up his career to help his father run the family restaurant, which is firmly stuck in the 1980s and he lives in his parents’ basement. While he dates girls and was once engaged, he clearly has a preference for men.

When Peter meets his girlfriend's brother Louie, there is instant attraction and Peter starts to feel happy for the first time in a long time. Louie is coming out of a relationship with a guy who was in the closest and makes it clear he has no time for a relationship and certainly not one that he would have to hide.

I grew up in a community with a high Greek population so I loved the setting for this book. The author does a great job showing the divide between the older generation who grew up in Greece and the younger generation who grew up in Canada. It is clear that Peter has sacrificed his happiness to please his parents. On the other side of the coin, Louie followed his heart and came out which was detrimental to his relationship with his Greek Orthodox parents.

I loved Peter and Louie. They are easy to relate to and their struggle between doing what is right for you and makes you happy versus pleasing your parents and others is an easy one to relate to. Their relationship is a lovely slow burn, complicated by, among other things, Peter dating Louie's sister.

I devoured Happy in about 3 hours. Reading Happy made me happy and I can't ask more from a book than that.


Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
I have the utmost respect for families who follow to the Old World traditions of their heritage. But that doesn’t keep me from getting frustrated for characters whose lives are made more difficult by such traditions, whether it be a daughter wanting to marry a man of a different race, a son wanting to marry a woman outside of his religion, or a young man who is attracted to other men, faced with his parents’ constant harping at him to settle down and start a family – with the expectation that he will marry a wife of their choosing – all while being afraid to come out to his parents for fear of being disowned. Yes, I can respect traditions and at the same time be immensely thankful that I wasn’t born into such a family.

Unfortunately for Peter, he was born Greek and that comes with a slew of expectations he’s beginning to realize that he cannot meet. After a failed engagement and his father’s heart attack, Peter moved into his parent’s basement and began working at the family restaurant – after he quit his job in the city’s Economic Development Office – with the promise that he would be running it, never materializing. Honestly, I don’t know how Peter kept living his life, day after day, not getting to do anything that made him happy, all for the sake of a family who, while they love him, show no appreciation for his sacrifices in life. As the only child, he is expected to do what his family needs without regard to his own happiness. And then, a little ray of sunshine enters his dreary world in the form of his fiancée’s younger brother, Louie. Louie is an out and proud Greek man whose family tolerates him because they don’t know how to reconcile their love for their son with their religion’s views on homosexuality, and he’s just moved back home after having his heart broken by a man who was more concerned with public appearances than with Louie. What begins as friendship soon becomes a cause for concern for Peter because Louie is making it hard for Peter to keep his attraction for men hidden, and Peter’s not so sure he wants to continue hiding either.

One of the things I liked about Happy was that rather than Louie serving as the catalyst for Peter realizing he’s gay, he was the push behind Peter’s coming out to his parents. Peter knew that he was gay, but also knew what was expected of him as a dutiful Greek son. So despite his homosexuality, he was determined to make his parents happy, even if that meant marrying a woman and living a lie. Why? Because he’d never met a man worth coming out for, at least not until Louie. And even when he began to realize that Louie might be worth his parents’ disappointment and judgment, Peter didn’t rush into the decision, and took it so slow that Louie began to think he was again being relegated to dirty little secret status.  Another thing that I enjoyed about the book is that while Louie still finds his high school crush attractive, Peter is no longer the Greek god he was in high school. Scully painted the picture of a just-beginning-to-age Greek man, complete with the softening around the middle and the early stages of a receding hairline. Not the perfect man, but the man perfect for Louie. But I think my favorite part of the book, besides watching Peter fall for Louie, was the unexpected quarter from which Peter found support for his relationship with Louie. To say I was shocked does not even do my reaction justice – I think my jaw may have actually dropped open. Happy was a book that made me just that when I read it…happy…even if it took me on quite the journey to get there. Scully has secured her place on my “authors to stalk” list.

Chris Scully lives in Toronto, Canada. She grew up spinning romantic stories in her head and always dreamed of one day being a writer even though life had other plans. Her characters have accompanied her through career turns as a librarian and an IT professional, until finally, to escape the tedium of a corporate day job, she took a chance and began putting her daydreams down on paper.

Tired of the same old boy-meets-girl stories, she found a home in M/M romance and strives to give her characters the happy endings they deserve. She divides her time between a mundane 9-5 cubicle job and a much more interesting fantasy life. When she’s not working or writing (which isn’t often these days) she loves puttering in the garden and traveling. She is an avid reader and tries to bring pieces of other genres and styles to her stories. While her head is crammed full of all the things she’d like to try writing, her focus is always on the characters first. She describes her characters as authentic, ordinary people—the kind of guy you might meet on the street, or the one who might be your best friend.

Although keeping up with social media is still a struggle given her schedule, she does love to hear from readers.

Connect with Chris

Facebook  ~  Blog  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Happy by Chris Scully to read and review.

Until September by Chris Scully

As a teenager, Archie Noblesse clawed his way out of the poverty, heartache, and abuse of the reservation and left his family behind. Desperate to shake the shadow of his past, he reinvents himself as Archer Noble, an outspoken blogger and controversial author who lives only for himself. But when his beloved sister dies, Archer is saddled with guardianship of his niece and nephew.

Elementary school teacher Ryan Eriksson is devastated when his best friend Marguerite is killed, leaving her two young children orphaned. Helping Archer with his new responsibilities eases his grief, but when Archer offers him custody of the children, Ryan’s left with an impossible choice: get the family he’s always wanted, or respect Margie’s wishes and convince Archer to give parenting—and his heritage—a chance.

To buy time, Ryan promises to stay for the summer, hoping that Archer will change his mind and fall for the kids. But Archer’s reluctant, and the growing attraction between him and Ryan complicates matters. Legal decisions must be made, and soon, before Ryan returns to school. But with hearts involved, more than just the children’s future is on the line.

Buy Links

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Riptide  Publishing

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆
Until September had it all if you're a fan of reality-based, character-driven storylines – endearing with a slow-burn romance.

Archer's early life influenced every choice he makes later in life. Coming from abusive family, abandoned by his addict mother, Archer does all he can to take care of his baby sister, Margie. He moves away from the reservation at age 16, turning tricks and worse to save money to send home to Margie so she can have a better life, go to college, and be stable and happy.

Fast-forward to chapter one: Archer is a cold, pragmatist, who doesn't have any vices outside of promiscuous sex – he doesn't even imbibe alcohol in fear he'll become addicted. Blogger and writer with a controversial stance on gay marriage and child-rearing – Archer’s in for a big surprise, reality-check.

After all the sacrifices he's made in his life, the taint he's placed on his soul, it was all for naught. Archer becomes the guardian of two: his niece and nephew (ages 5 & 7). Lost, he is challenged to view life through a different lens than the one he writes about in his blog posts and stories... and in walks his sister's friend/children's teacher to 'help.'

Archer and Ryan had a slow-burn romance in the extreme, with a bit of love/hate/reluctant attraction thrown in the mix. There was banter, angst, infuriating circumstances, and an ex coming back into the picture.

The heart of the story is the children, written realistically to sound/act/behave as real children of that age group in that situation. Their reluctance to trust their uncle, their fear he would leave them as their parents had, then the strong attachment. Sam, the imaginary friend, had me smiling through tears.

I won't deny, I shed more than a few tears while reading Until September. It was written fluidly, easy to fall into the storyline and read without being yanked back out. No bells and whistles. No miscommunications. No unnecessary angst. No insta-anything. As the reader, I could buy their relationship as a family and the love that grew out of tragedy.

The reason my rating is not a five star is simply personal taste in the pacing of the storyline. I'm all for slow-burn, but at times I was bordering on boredom & contemplating skimming unnecessary scenes. Also, I understand the author's decision to add aboriginal elements, and not bog the story down with too much information. Curious and eager for knowledge, I would have actually liked a bit more on this thread, and will probably read up a bit more on the subject.

I would highly recommend this title to fans of MM romance, and look forward to reading more by this author.

Genre: MM Romance | Grief | Love/Hate | Children/family life | Alcoholism/Addiction | Foster care | Abuse survivor | Aboriginal | Heat level: Mild | Writer/teacher |


Angela – ☆☆☆☆☆
Starting Until September today was not a good move on my part. I planned to read a chapter or two while eating lunch to see if it was a book I wanted to fit into my overburdened review schedule. Now, eight hours later, I have finished the book in between forcing myself to put it down periodically so that I could complete the bare minimum of tasks I had to do throughout the afternoon. Not only did I not get stuff done that I had planned to do today, but I also have puffy eyes from crying as well as an information overload from the Author’s Note that both terrifies me and breaks my heart.

Until September has one of the most emotional beginnings I have read in a while. The book opens with a look at Archer 20 years earlier when he answered to Archie and the only person who mattered to him in his world was his younger sister, Marguerite. Between their conversation and Archie’s inner monologue, it was glaringly obvious that the children had a tough start in life and Archie’s was even worse as he did whatever he had to in order to protect and provide for his sister. Fast forward to the present and it’s hard to reconcile the Archer of today with that boy from 20 years ago…until he learns that his sister has died. At the same time, Ryan is worried that his close friend hasn’t arrived to pick her children up on the final day of school and his worry skyrockets with the arrival of a cop and a Children’s Aid worker. Frantic to keep the children out of foster services, even for one night, Ryan is clutching at every straw he can until Archer calls in and gives his consent to the CA worker for Ryan to take the children home and await his arrival. SEE?!?!? Can you understand why I was sucked into the story so thoroughly that my to-do list didn’t get done? And that’s only the first three chapters. It didn’t help that things really heated up and got more interesting once Archer arrived and managed to convince Ryan into staying with him and the kids for the summer.

Watching Ryan and Archer build a relationship was an emotional experience. In the beginning of the book, Archer’s focus was on himself and what needed to occur so that he could return to his life as quickly as possible. Although Archer had no idea of how to interact with his niece and nephew, part of the reason he wanted Ryan to stay was so that he could appease his own guilt over leaving the children in Ryan’s care rather than honoring his sister’s wishes. He not only wanted proof that Ryan was fully capable of caring for the children in the way they needed, but he also seemed to want to prove that he himself had no business raising children. Archer truly believed that he couldn’t love anyone or be loved by anyone and his summer with Ryan and the children forced him to reevaluate his beliefs about who he is and what he deserved from life. There was a huge amount of character growth that Archer underwent in this book as the unexpected instant-family forced him to reassess what, or who, was important in his life. We also saw a subtler growth in Ryan as he came to the realization that his wants and needs were just as important as those of his partner. The chemistry between the two men was electric and as much as I enjoyed their coming together, I perversely enjoyed the intrusions by the children because it was realistic. Until September might have wreaked havoc on my emotions and my to-do list, but I am so glad I took my co-reviewer’s advice to read it because I loved it. I look forward to checking out more of Scully’s work.

Chris Scully lives in Toronto, Canada. She grew up spinning romantic stories in her head and always dreamed of one day being a writer even though life had other plans. Her characters have accompanied her through career turns as a librarian and an IT professional, until finally, to escape the tedium of a corporate day job, she took a chance and began putting her daydreams down on paper.

Tired of the same old boy-meets-girl stories, she found a home in M/M romance and strives to give her characters the happy endings they deserve. She divides her time between a mundane 9-5 cubicle job and a much more interesting fantasy life. When she’s not working or writing (which isn’t often these days) she loves puttering in the garden and traveling. She is an avid reader and tries to bring pieces of other genres and styles to her stories. While her head is crammed full of all the things she’d like to try writing, her focus is always on the characters first. She describes her characters as authentic, ordinary people—the kind of guy you might meet on the street, or the one who might be your best friend.

Although keeping up with social media is still a struggle given her schedule, she does love to hear from readers.

Connect with Chris

Facebook  ~  Blog  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Until September by Chris Scully to read and review.