Timothy M.

Thanks, Drew, I'm delighted you liked it. Your understanding of Patrick is exactly what I was aiming for. I guess you can say this first chapter sets the stage for the whole story. We get to know the cardmaker and the first brief glimpse of the caretaker.

You're welcome, buddy, and thank you for opening your heart to lonely Patrick as I hoped you would. I promise you won't be disappointed with the romance, even if it's not as dramatic as CotT. Your praise makes me but also strive to follow the great example of all the talented authors here on GA.

Thank you, dragon, I'm so glad you like the story - or at least the beginning. Nope, not much mystery here, lol, as you'd also know if you read the story description. More of the Danes next Sunday.

Hey tim, thank you for my very first review of PCC. You're spot on with both comments. Patrick is definitely a little odd, and he needs a good man in his life.

Patrick smiled as he unlocked the door of the Personal Cards shop on one of the first days of the New Year. This was his favourite season, even better than Christmas. The single exhibit window of his small shop was already decorated with Valentine's Day cards as well as a multitude of red hearts, white courting birds and homemade silhouettes of couples kissing, dancing or walking hand in hand. Of course the next six weeks until the fourteenth of February would be very busy, but Patrick didn't mi

After the death of his parents Patrick is lonely and his life unfulfilled, in spite of being rich and able to indulge in his passion for creating unique art in his card shop in London. He longs for friends and for a romantic relationship, especially while creating Valentine cards. The chance encounter with a handsome Dane and his young son pitches the shy innocent cardmaker headlong into love and changes everything.

I can certainly understand Toph being with Gary. It's one thing for Toph's mother to see the portrait and realize he painted it, but how did she get the address of the apartment? And even worse, how dare Gary try to convince Toph to go home for Christmas ! I really want to kick his butt from here and all the way to Hell. Does he want Toph to lose all the progress he's made so far? That Christmas Card and invitation were awful. First of all, she insists on calling him Christopher - clearly showing she does not respect him as his own person. Secondly, the wording of the invitation please do us the honor of attending Christmas dinner would make me run away as fast as I could, too. How can the TALON members and Gary even contemplate trying to convince Toph? Stupid traitors all of them, grrrrrr. And finally, she signs herself Your loving Mother - We may question Toph's ability to understand people around him, but there is no denying his feelings of being dissed and despised by his family his whole life, and if his mother had ever stood up for him, I'm pretty sure he would have remembered. Right now I suspect his mother feels embarrassed about her son having left the family and slumming it out in New Glory. She even tries to buy him back by transfering money (and how does she know his bank account, is this another betrayal by Gary or his father?). Oh, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and pretend she does love him in her own stunted way, but I still think Toph is absolutely right in staying away from his toxic family - and he should avoid Gary too, if only to punish him some more. I shall not forgive Gary in a hurry. OK, rant over. Steve is the only one wholly on Toph's side, so I hope he'll get to be with him for longer than he fears. Yet I think his premonitions are sadly accurate.

There are fleeting moments when all my shields are down. I do enjoy those moments. But it’s too difficult for me to live that way all the time. Those words more than anything else show that Toph has great insight in his own mental state even if he is quite oblivious at times to what is going on with people around him. And when he does realize, as with Steve or Niles or Gary, it fills him with worry or fear as Graeme pointed out. Reading this chapter again after having read the next one makes it even more clear that Toph is going to face quite a few battles in the future, and most of them may be with his own outlook on his past and future.

I bet the artsy, arrogant, skinny guy is Piper's brother, but I wonder who the jock will turn out to be. I love that Ehren is sensible enough to know when he is out of options and that he'll have to trust Piper. Glad to know the frat boys were caught and are facing charges. Oh, and Ehren subtly telling May she was being a prejudiced fool was priceless.

AC's review made me remember one matter I wondered about. In Danish the word for miscarriage and abortion is the same (abort), although we sometimes use the words 'spontan abort' for miscarriage. Perhaps the abortion wasn't provoked, but simply an unintentional loss?

I liked the slow pace of the story, the soft strokes of the brush painting the scenes one by one, gently leading us to the satisfying climax of their attraction. The imagery was impressive.

Hmmm, I have the feeling Jack's father is in for a bit of a surprise. Le'en and Jack certainly suit each other well.

Those four guys are great together. I have the feeling their relationship is healing Peter as well as freeing Joel. I loved the solution to the religious nuts. Phillip is just the right steadying influence on Sam. Shame many outsiders probably wouldn't see it that way.

I assume all the Flauros imported were male, so they don't have to worry about any off spring. But perhaps that was another reason for their aggression? I hope knowing Jenson loves him will have a good effect om Merrick in preventing him from losing his temper and doing something reckless. I'm pretty sure we'll have enough drama in store without that. I agree with Merrick's dad, Jenson needs to make sure he gets well before his lover returns. Their first night together should be EPIC !

Me too. Best Birthday party ever.

I thought you might like Solomon, Val, since he reminded me of your Penguin. It seemed a typical Colin thing to share his beloved cat with the teens at the shelter. I wonder how he came to volunteer his time there? Lisa, your question made me wonder the same thing, but I assume that Colin didn't hide his orientation from any gay teens he spoke to, and Peter, being a clever kid, found out at some point. It's not like Colin was deep in the closet, after all. I also assume that Colin and Ken will 'come out' at work, now that they're a couple. I bet their romance will be the subject of delighted office gossip. Oh, and I loved the image of the sexy blond Ken doll.

I had no idea this would be about the original Valentine until I saw the sighature, so I had the full enjoyment of the surprise. And then my heart lurched because I felt sure he would be lost, so the ending was an even more wonderful surprise. But what I loved most about the story was him saying all who loved should be able to marry, this is a much better and more appropriate version of Cristianity than what we have been seeing foralmost two centuries.

Of all the things in the world, what I fear most is losing my mind or having it happen to people I love. So far I've escaped this in my life, but reading this story had my gut clenching and my heart aching. Yet, the way it was revealed was so gentle and caring, it brought tears to my eyes too. Absolutely stunning, the love of a lifetime could be felt through the profound sadness.

I was chuckling through most of this story, but I also loved the whole idea of CC and arrows of different colors. We didn't get the explanation of the difference between green, purple and red arrows. But I bet golden arrows make archangels and Gods fall in love. I wonder if Sablo's and Theliel's bosses had great fun deciding to match make those two, but perhaps it wasn't intentional. But I bet Ayil chortled with glee when one of Theliel's colleagues reported a potential match. I'd love to see more CC stories, you could start a series with different protagonists.

Wanting to see Fred smile was a lovely way to put it. I have the feeling both men need someone to care for and to have someone care for them. Hopefully, they'll make each other smile for a long time to come.

I liked the realism too, and I found it particularly poignant that Mike acknowledged the fact that he was missing Jess his best friend more than Jesse his boyfriend. I have the feeking Mike has taken the first step on the road to something better, so in spite of the story being sad I found the end uplifting with a sparkle of hope.

It's funny, but I knew right from the start that Isaac wouldn't have sex with Matt, but would still give him the money. I was still overwhelmed with emotion at the way it happened. They truly gave each other a gift of love, not eros but something kind and pure and whole. Beautiful and as sweet as sunshine. And I'm so glad for Isaac that he could take that first step towards healing, even as I understood his anger completely.

I have to admit I found it very hard to like Gabriel, he was too silly, random and oblivious for my taste. How can they be friends for almost a year and never talk about Avery's sister? But at least Avery managed to pin him down, so hopefully they get a HEA. The story was well written.

I didn't see that coming either, but I loved the solution. It's probably a one-in-a-million chance, but the way it's told makes it somehow plausible.

LOL, Graeme, Tony has the Valentine Cards now, so I doubt anyone will find out about Eric writing them. Even if it doesn't work out between Tony and Eric at least it will take Eric's mind off John.