Welcome to our Grand Finale celebrations for the amazing
In our final post for Posy, we are featuring the North Star trilogy, recently re-released, plus our author interview, and of course one more chance to win one of Posy's books.
First in the trilogy, Spark
A love story with a seventeen-year intermission.
Hugo Thorson fell in love when he was sixteen. He’s maybe been in love since, but probably not. He’s been too busy directing plays to devote much time to men who can’t accept all of him. No one ever made him feel like his first love did.
Kevin Magnus married a woman and has two children, but the marriage wasn’t happy. In the shadow of divorce, he’s striving to be a better father, but he’s still a work in progress.
When Hugo and Kevin bump into each other at the lake, memories of their last kiss incite a new first kiss. Visions of the life they always wanted are vivid, but so much stands in the way of their dreams. Hugo is out and proud but no one knows Kevin’s bisexual. If Kevin comes out, he risks losing custody of his kids. If he doesn’t walk hand in hand with Hugo, he risks losing the love of his life.
The curtain may never rise on their second act.
Excerpt:
Kevin laughed deep and warm and stopped walking, pulling Hugo to a halt with him. “God, Hugo. I missed you. You always knew what to say to make me feel better. How the heck did we ever lose track of each other after everything we discovered together?”
Hugo shrugged, not knowing how to answer after their gradual drift from talking regularly their first month in college to nothing by the time winter break came. “We had different lives, I think. We went our separate ways after I said goodbye to you in your driveway.”
“I still regret not kissing you that day. I should’ve said screw it and kissed you like I wanted to, even if my dad was right there.”
Hugo looked up the few inches to meet Kevin’s gray eyes and tried to smile, but it probably came across as sad rather than happy. He couldn’t believe Kevin still thought of that day too. He wondered if Kevin’s mind ever drifted to the kiss in the wooded meadow when he was bored in a meeting, like Hugo’s had that very afternoon in the car. The corner of his mouth curled into something flirty, and he asked, “Oh?”
“Yes,” Kevin said as he thumbed a trail across Hugo’s jaw toward his chin. “I’ve thought about that day a lot, about our last kiss, and how I wish it never would’ve ended. Damn the rain. Would you mind if I showed you how I’ve always imagined that moment in the driveway would’ve happened?”
“No. I mean, yes, you can show me,” Hugo stammered, his heart beating hard against his chest.
Kevin’s smile lit up, and he looked so young then, the careworn lines that had appeared between his brows while talking about his father smoothing.
“So maybe this isn’t exactly how I would’ve said things back then, but this is how I wish I’d done it. Ready?”
Hugo nodded and licked his lips, drawing Kevin’s attention to his mouth.
“So pretend we’re standing next to my open trunk.” Kevin directed Hugo to the tail end of a car parked nearby. Kevin tilted his head left and right, shaking his hands out as if trying to get into character or get ready to spar.
“Hugo.” He somehow pulled youthful nervousness into his voice. “We should plan on getting together in a few weeks.”
“Sure,” Hugo answered, ready to play along with the conversation he barely remembered. He recalled the feelings he’d had, though: excitement about leaving Austin but sadness about leaving Kevin. “I can get a ride down to St. Peter, or you can come up to Minneapolis. It’s not that far.”
That drive never happened for either of them. Hugo auditioned for a play in the U’s theater department and was cast in a lead role as a freshman, something unheard of. He had no time to get together on weekends because he had homework to do and lines to memorize and blocking to learn and sets to help build.
“Seventy miles or so.”
That’s where Hugo remembered Kevin’s dad clapping his big hands and telling Kevin he’d better hit the road. Now there was only the sound of far-off waves to the left and traffic from the other side of the trees on the right, all peppered with exploding fireworks.
“I’d love that,” Hugo said, regretful he hadn’t taken the time to find a ride and just go. “I’ll make it happen,” he promised, and he wished he’d kept it.
Kevin looked at him with such intensity. Even in the darkness surrounding them, Hugo could see how blown Kevin’s pupils were.
“It’ll happen this time,” Kevin whispered against Hugo’s mouth, lazily closing his eyes as he spoke.
Hugo tasted Kevin’s breath on his tongue, remembering it, even with the faint scent of lemon lingering.
A silvery thread of his memory seemed to weave this moment to the past, pushing Hugo back into that world, filling him with all those emotions he had for Kevin when they were just boys.
Kevin was the only man Hugo had truly been in love with. He was the ruler every single boyfriend since had to unwittingly measure himself against. And none, not a single one, had ever gotten anywhere near.
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Book 2, Fusion
A love story comes out of the shadows.
Everyone in Kevin’s life knows him as straight rather than bisexual. There was no need to come out until now, but loving Hugo is worth any prejudice he’ll encounter. Hugo does his best to be patient while Kevin navigates his way toward openness, but he refuses to be put back in a closet for long.
Kevin wants to tell his kids without screwing up their newfound stability, and he worries about telling his ex because Erin might use the truth against him to renegotiate custody. Kevin wants it all finalized, but time isn’t on his side.
When Erin gets grim news, it shakes everyone to the core and rips Kevin away from the life he planned with Hugo. The news brings Hugo’s past hurts bubbling to the surface. Yet when Erin turns to Hugo for support, their new connection shows him how essential he is to Kevin and his kids.
Despite the chaos, it’s clear Hugo is very much a part of this unconventional family.
Excerpt:
“Tell me where you see you and Kevin in three years,” Summer said.
Hugo didn’t open his eyes but could picture Kevin walking around in nothing but a pair of flannel pajama pants, carrying two cups of coffee, his beautiful bare feet padding across a wooden floor.
“With me, but I don’t know where,” he answered.
“And where are the kids?”
“Upstairs. Brooke has music playing too loud, and Finn’s yelling at her to turn it down so he can watch his movie.” A smile spread as he realized he knew exactly where they’d be.
He nodded and choked back tears that came too readily. He looked at her and admitted, “I do. I really do. I can’t even imagine my life without Kevin or them. They’re part of that whole package.” A lump filled his throat, and he gulped it down. “I never once thought I’d be a dad unless you and I had a baby, but I almost feel like a dad to these kids. I love ’em.” Summer pulled Hugo close, and he buried his face into her fresh-smelling hair. “It doesn’t make any sense. I haven’t known them long enough to feel this way.”
“I’ve had some of my kindergartners work their way into my heart in a matter of hours, and I’ve never once helped put them to bed, get ready for school, cooked for them, or folded their underwear. All I do is teach them how to read and write. And you’ve done all those things for Brooke and Finn. And more.”
“Yeah. I have,” Hugo said. “They’re both so much like their dad, but in different ways. And I’ve loved him for years, even when he wasn’t in my life.” He turned back toward the falls and studied the churning water.
“I’m sure loving him made it even more likely that you’d fall in love with the little Magnus kids.”
“It started out with me trying to help Kevin because he was overwhelmed. Erin took care of pretty much everything in the kids’ lives, so it was hard for Kevin,” Hugo explained. “I was just trying to make life easier by making lunches and throwing in a load of laundry because I overheard Brooke saying it was jersey day and I noticed her Vikings jersey was in the dirty clothes. Little things like that.”
“You listened.”
Hugo shrugged. Kevin heard those words too, but because his mind was on a hundred other things, he didn’t consider washing the favorite jeans or making sure Finn had his school library books in his backpack rather than buried under three of his own on his bedside table.
“I’m like a wife,” Hugo joked, and instantly he knew he’d have to explain himself when Summer gave him the look. “Housewife. I meant with all the domestic stuff.”
“Sounds like you’re more like a second dad to me,” Summer said.
Hugo laughed, not sure he was ready to be called that yet. Why wife felt better, he had no idea. Maybe because it felt like a role he could play, unlike dad. Dad was a possibility. Dad was too real. Intimidating. Forever responsibility.
Husband just meant he was Kevin’s partner. He knew how to be a partner.
“Sweetie, you’re supporting him by being his partner, and it sounds like you’d make a damn good dad.”
“Maybe, but probably not.” Dismissing the notion was easier than considering it. “As much as I love those kids, I really just want Kevin all to myself too. See? So, I’m selfish. That’s not the best dad characteristic.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“Seriously,” Hugo said with a chuckle. “I want to wake up naked and have a few sips of coffee before I suck Kevin off on the couch and have him fuck me later in the shower. Sneaking around his house sucks. We rarely get time to even touch. I have to keep three feet between us at all times. And then one or both of the kids is pulling us apart, either physically or by calling us to help them with one thing or another. Or simply by being brother and sister and ending up in a fight over nothing.”
Summer studied him but remained silent. Hugo stared at the falls, allowing his mind to drift to where this irrational fear originated. He wanted to know why he was so damn insecure about this relationship just because of a few unreturned messages.
“I feel greedy. So I feel guilty. And then things like this week happen. It freaks me out to take more work in LA and New York, and there’s work to be had there.” Hugo groaned.
“Don’t fall into the same old patterns, Hugo. Do you see what you’re doing here?”
“No.” He scowled at the railing.
“You’re talking about sacrificing your career so you can stay with a boyfriend. Sound familiar?”
“Shit. Goddammit!”
Summer laughed. “Oh, sweetie.” She pulled him down so she could kiss his cheek. “You’re connecting dots that don’t need to be connected. It’s okay to want to be loved and accepted. I just wish you could see when those desires come from a place of genuine want rather than the fear of being abandoned.”
“Fucking daddy issues,” Hugo grumbled.
“You’ve got ’em, babe. So, three years. Kevin’s drinking coffee, the kids are fighting upstairs. That tells me you guys are living together. Is that what you want? Is he worth giving up some of that uncloseted freedom you’re so used to?”
Hugo gave a solemn nod. “He is. I want to build a life with him. I’d love to be his husband, and I think I want to be a stepdad to those kids, if that’s possible.”
“And maybe you can work toward that after his divorce is final. But don’t lose yourself in this,” she said.
“Mm-hmm.”
“My guess is that he’s busy with something either work or divorce related. Give him time. He’ll come back.”
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Book 3, Flare
A love story and a family worth fighting for.
Hugo and Kevin strive to put their lives back together after tragedy, doing everything in their power to create a stable life. Hugo’s acting career is back on track, and Kevin hires a nanny to help with the kids as they discover their new normal. But when Erin’s parents seek full custody of Brooke and Finn, that stability is shattered.
With Hugo working in LA or New York, the distance from his new family gets to him. At home, the nanny’s hands-on approach leaves Hugo feeling pushed out, so he leaves his beloved apartment and eclectic neighborhood behind to move in with Kevin.
Hugo has a hard time fitting in with the suburbanites with Kevin’s passive-aggressive “friends” making Hugo feel anything but welcome. As the custody case heads to mediation, Brooke is bullied about having two dads, and Hugo realizes his mere presence might be doing more harm than good.
Hugo must decide to stay and fight for his family or leave and let them live in peace.
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Author Interview:
1. What inspires you? What gets you writing?
It’s usually something little. A flash of inspiration. At times that morphs into a full-fledged story. That’s how the North Star Trilogy came to be. I get curious about how people will react in certain situations that challenge their status quo and that propels me to writing their story.
2. What's your writing process? Seat of your pants, lots of sticky notes, complex spreadsheets?
I’ve done it all, but after years of writing, I’ve discovered I need a global idea of where I’m heading before I can start. What is the story trying to accomplish or say or go?
My first several stories were more seat of the pants. That resulted in me needed to fix a lot of stuff in edits. I went to the opposite extreme then, and created a detailed outline. I ended up writing myself into a mental block doing that. I felt trapped. I had to scrap my outline to start writing again. Now I set up a few key scenes I want to write toward. So I guess you could call me a plantser.
3. Which character from your books is your favorite, and why?
I really love Kevin from my North Star Trilogy because he goes through the most growth of all my characters. When we meet him in Spark, as a teen, he’s trying to differentiate himself from his father. He doesn’t entirely understand why either. To Kevin, abuse equals being hit, not being manipulated and controlled. But his father is horrendously abusive to him. So as a teen Kevin’s maturity and decision-making skills are stunted due to that. He makes poor choices, and as an adult in Spark, he’s still fighting the demons of his father.
In Fusion, Kevin goes through tremendous of growth. Hugo, who was self-actualized as a teenager, does too, but not like Kevin. Yet Kevin can come across as aloof. He cares. He truly does, but he’s still so emotionally stunted that he doesn’t know how to communicate or share his feelings except through sex. No one’s ever shown him how, unlike Hugo, who’s a fantastic communicator when it really comes down to it.
And in Flare, Kevin truly becomes the man we’ve been craving so see since Spark. He finally proves himself. And every time I read the last 1/4 of that book, I cheer Kevin on. He’s finally in a place where he’s able to shed all the crap from his past and be the man he wants to be.
On the new cover for Spark, Kevin looks guarded. Open to Hugo but guarded to the world, which is very much the truth. Fusion is really a story about Hugo trying to figure out where he fits, and I think the cover of him look down fits that. Then on Flare, the way Kevin looks at the camera, I see determination, confidence, openness, and ease. It’s like Kevin self-actualized, which is essentially what happens to him throughout the series. It’s just a process, and I love Kevin for never giving up on bettering himself and Hugo for always having faith Kevin would get there.
4. Which character is your least favorite, and why?
I hate Jude’s parents from my Naked Organics series. They’re hinted about in Farm Fresh, but it’s not until Picked Fresh that we understand how horrid they were to Jude and his siblings. And they don’t have any redeeming qualities I can see. Maybe the mom could be forgiven, but I’m not even sure about that since she stood by and did nothing.
They live on an isolated farm in Montana and raised their kids in Quiverfull moment (think the Duggars, if you’ve never heard of it). The core of their belief system is that blessings come to those who have a quiverfull of children. Strict rules about gender roles and sex abound, including, in the most extreme situations, only having sex with the purpose of procreating.
So imagine how a gay kid felt growing up in that. It’s no wonder Jude got out the second he could. Before I wrote Jude’s parents, I’d never written a character who had zero redeeming qualities, aside from maybe their neighbor Ray.
5. If you could go back into one of your books and change one thing, what would that be? And why?
I already have, actually, but it was more clarification to Farm Fresh than change since a few reviewers assumed Jude was asexual and naïve to the mission of the commune, which he was not. Jude is very much interested in sex. Sadly, his abusive past kept him from opening himself up in a physical way, despite his cravings. Jude chose to move to a commune where sex is viewed as vital. That was one of his main reasons for moving there, in fact, to work through his fears so he could have a healthy sex life, something he’d struggled with for years. It was Jude’s choice to see if this worked, and he went in aware that if it wasn’t a good fit, he’d not be asked to stay beyond the trial period. In the end, he works through his past and is able to have sex with his housemates. It just takes a little more time than he expected.
I also went back into Stroke of Luck and added an epilogue about a year after I released that. And now that I got the rights back to North Star, I’ve edited those books from top to bottom, fixed pacing, cut scenes that dragged, and improved that series ten-fold. North Star is the piece I’m most proud of, but my writing way back then wasn’t nearly as crisp and tight as it is today, so I’m thrilled I got the opportunity to make it ever better.
6. What's next for you? What amazing book are you working on?
The next thing on my list is actually a holiday story with Kevin and Hugo from North Star. I hope I can make that work this year. I’m also working on Fresh Earth and Fresh Shares, the next books in Naked Organics. These are Charlie and Leo’s stories. I’ve had the cover for Fresh Earth for over a year, so it’s time to get my butt in gear and finish the story.
I also have two stand-alone series loosely in the works. One is set on a liberal arts college campus and another is about a group of friends who are all entrepreneurs with wacky jobs. I have an old story I’m hoping to rework since it’s currently just sitting on my computer unread. And in the next few months, I’ll be releasing all my novellas in a bundle or two.
Thank you!
More about Posy Roberts:
Posy Roberts started reading romance when she was young, sneaking peeks at adult books long before she should’ve. Textbooks eventually replaced the novels, and for years she existed without reading for fun. When she finally picked up a romance two decades later, it was like slipping on a soft hoodie . . . that didn’t quite fit like it used to. She wanted something more.She wanted to read about men falling in love with each other. She wanted to explore beyond the happily ever after and see characters navigate the unpredictability of life. So Posy sat down at her keyboard to write the books she wanted to read.
Her stories have been USA Today’s “Happily Ever After” Must-Reads and Rainbow Award finalists. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with her family and friends and doing anything possible to get out of grocery shopping and cooking.
Giveaway:
Thanks for celebrating this fantastic author with us all month long. We hope you found a few new books to add to your TBR and learned some interesting facts about Posy.
Until next time, happy reading!
Thank you for the interview! The books sounds wonderful.
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