Title: In the Weeds
Author: Andrew Grey
Series: A New Leaf Romance Book 2
Genre: M/M
Contemporary Romance
Publisher: DreamSpinner Press
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
Florist to the stars Vin Robbins is in high demand in LA,
but he hates working for someone else. When he returns to his Pennsylvania home
to help his widowed father, he finds an opportunity he never expected with his
first love, but learns that someone’s been taking advantage of the unused
family greenhouse.
Casey Lombard wasted too much of his life denying who he is
and what he wants, but he won’t do that any longer. His biggest regret is
letting Vin go, so running into Vin again when he gets called to investigate
who planted pot on Vin’s family’s property sends him reeling.
Vin ignites feelings
Casey thought long dead. But Casey has a daughter, and Vin is only home for a
visit. Surely the bright lights of Hollywood will call him back to the City of
Angels, so how can Vin and Casey build the life they both wish they had?
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Excerpt 1
Vincent Robins stood on the sidewalk in front of the late-Victorian
house he’d grown up in, its brick exterior, white moldings, and gingerbread
porch trim achingly familiar. A peeling shutter hung at an angle above the
porch, where one of the hinges had given away. The once-impeccable lady was a
shadow of her former self. His mother had always kept the house beautiful, with
paint touchups each year and the porch swept every day. The yard and gardens
had been tended and full of color, not the way they were now, weed-infested and
almost frightening-looking, like they belonged to a witch from a children’s
book. Vin sighed and lifted his suitcase, carried it up the front porch, then
used his key to let himself inside.
At least the interior didn’t show the same neglect. The
furniture he remembered was all in place, if a little more worn than the last
time Vin had been home.
“Dad?” Vin called. He wandered into the small kitchen that
his mother had redone a few years before she died, and then on to the family
room. Footsteps from the floor above alerted him to his father’s whereabouts,
and he turned back the way he’d come.
“You made it,” his father said flatly. He always knew how to
roll out the welcome wagon.
“Yes. My plane was on time and everything.” Though it had
been exhausting as all hell. The flight from Los Angeles had been fine, if
long. But when you added the drive up from Baltimore, the entire journey went
from tiring to exhausting. “I can see the place needs some work.”
His father humphed. “I called the guy your mother used for
painting. He retired. I had a contract with another painter; he retired. I have
someone coming next week… unless he decides to throw in the towel and file for
Social Security too.” He actually smiled, and Vin was relieved to see some part
of his father still there, inside the shell of residual grief he had worn like
an overcoat ever since his wife’s passing. Mack Robins had always been the life
of the party, quick with a joke and a smile. He could keep a room of their
friends spellbound for hours. But now the light was gone and so was the humor.
It was as if his wife’s death had snuffed out the best part of him.
“That’s good, Dad,” Vin said with a smile of his own. The
two of them had never been particularly huggy, so their smiles were as close to
a warm greeting as they got.
Vin hefted his bag up the steep stairs to the room he’d
grown up in. It had been redone some time ago but was comfortable enough, and
he set about putting things away and getting settled for his weeklong visit.
The bed sure looked inviting, and he dropped down on the
edge of the mattress with a yawn. His legs ached from being stuck in a plane
for nearly six hours. He was hungry and he needed sleep badly.
“I’m making some lunch!” his dad called up the stairs.
“Thanks. I’ll be right down.” He really didn’t want to move,
but he forced his body to do it anyway. In the tiny kitchen, he offered to
help, but there was never room for more than one person, so he wandered into
the living room and looked out the large windows. “I take it you didn’t have
any luck selling the business.”
Robins Flowers had been a staple business of Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, for decades. Now that he was approaching seventy and without his
wife, Vin’s dad hadn’t had the heart to keep it going. He’d closed the business
right after she died. He’d hoped to sell it, but that obviously hadn’t
happened, and now the shop and attached greenhouse sat alone on the other side
of the road behind the house, looking sad and forgotten. The glass greenhouse
panes were dirty but seemed intact. Still, the shop was shuttered and lifeless,
which Vin knew would have broken his mother’s heart.
“Not really. Your mother and I made a go of it all those
years because everyone knew we were here. But it wouldn’t be the same for
anyone else. The place is off the beaten path, so whoever took over would have
to spend a lot on advertising. So far people just haven’t been all that
interested.” He popped some bread into the toaster. “There was one couple I
thought might buy it, but they practically wanted me to give it to them, and I
wasn’t going to do that. I could sell just the land for more than they wanted
to pay. So now it sits, your mother’s and my life’s work, just rotting away.”
“You could have kept it going,” Vin protested.
Author Information
Andrew grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell
stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout
the country and traveled throughout the world. He has a master’s degree from
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works in information systems for a
large corporation.
Andrew’s hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and
leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when
writing) He considers himself blessed
with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive
and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle,
Pennsylvania.
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Other Works by Andrew Grey
(Please Be Sure To Stop by His Website to See All of His Works)
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