DerekEll136

Chase passed his trial period with flying colors and received fulltime employment; who would have doubted otherwise? I finished reading this chapter feeling most pleased. I'm loving the groove this story is settling into - bits of goofy, bits of heartfelt, bits of worry, and bits of clever snark all swirling in earnest hope, warmth and optimism. It balances the tension between the weight of the worrisome parts of Chase and Pru's life against new uplift and possibilities from a steady job (and maybe...a future romance?) And I especially LOVE stories featuring food! Some of the stories I most enjoy reading on GayAuthors are the ones where the writing is sharp and clever enough to delight me. I would list all the places in this chapter where you did that Dylan, but I fear I'd end up quoting most of it! Let me just say the scene in Violet's office between her, Mrs. G, Silvie and Chase had several lines that had me laughing out loud - repeatedly. Now I understand that we are calling the character "Buddy" because he didn't tell Chase his actual first name when they first met; Chase randomly picked that name to refer to him. Even though Chase has been at The Keyhouse for an entire trial week he's still referring to that person in this chapter as "Buddy" in his head; clearly he's still not been told his actual name nor heard his name spoken by another employee. I like that choice you've made as the author. Buddy continues to be the real enigma of this story. What happened to him in the past to make his personality so spiky? What caused him to be sent to work at The Keyhouse? What is his freakin' name? (🤣) You are presenting Buddy like an onion, with layers that will need to be peeled away (yes...a deliberate food reference). I believe that will be one of the great rewards for readers of this story, to see how in their interactions Chase will encourage Buddy to reveal the person underneath the surface armor. Although already, you've revealed to us that Buddy is doing a terrible job at hiding his growing interest in Chase. First cracks in his armor.

Glad Chase pushed through his internal nerves and doubt and put himself before the management of the Keysbridge Inn (by Ashton!) to apply for the bakery position. I think his spirit and innate baking skill have made swift allies of Silvie and Mrs. G. Possibly Violet too, though as General Manager she is by necessity more reserved and practical. She needs to be sure her hunch about Chase being a good candidate for employment - without professional training - was not misplaced. He will need to reliably show he can produce at the level of quality expected in a professional, high-end kitchen under demanding time constraints. That will take a bit of time, once his "first-days" nerves settle. Simon, the new employee Chase meets on break, is an interesting development. There is definite flirting and interest coming from Simon; will that build into something? I assumed the prickly Assistant Manager "Buddy" would become, as the story filled out, the will-they-or-won't they? foil for Chase - the initial adversary who grows into becoming someone closer and more meaningful to him. But perhaps Simon will be a spoon to stir the pot of the relationships now starting to develop at the Inn. I look forward to reading what happens there. One aspect of the story, though, that raised my eyebrows - for believability's sake - is how Chase is being portrayed verbally responding to Buddy's prickly, aggressive mannerisms and statements. Once Chase has been hired on a trial basis at the Inn, he is an employee while Buddy is a manager - even though Buddy is not directly over him nor does he have direct authority to fire him. Chase is depicted as speaking back to Buddy in a way that, in the real world, an employee might face reprimand or discipline for if they talked that way to any manager at their place of work. I myself, many years ago, worked for a couple of years at a large convention center hotel that was part of an well known high-end global chain. Respect for your coworkers and respect for the authority of management was absolutely expected of everyone. I feel to have Chase being treated by Buddy in this way is likely to be not acceptable to Ashton Hotels, but employee Chase is not his equal in the structure of the workplace to be free to respond to manager Buddy in this way. Maybe consider having Chase "pull his punches" moving forward with what he actually says aloud to Buddy. If the treatment Chase receives doesn't get better, maybe he can go to his manager (Agatha?) and have management have a word with Buddy about his behavior.

I'm really liking this story and looking forward to more. You paint a vivid picture of the village of Keysbridge and its inhabitants. I feel for Chase and his struggles, and admire his inner resolution to work towards the best future possible for himself and Prunella. I'm rooting for them. And Prunella, she's got sass; I'm predicting I'll likely be barking out a laugh at something she's gonna say in future chapters.

Here's my wild thought: Maddie is actually the sister of Doris or else Doris' late husband the prior Alpha. She was so disgusted by the inbred Fergus and his like when he defeated the prior Alpha and took over the pack she cut all ties to that world and went into seclusion as a human.

Truly, I am LOVING this story!

So hot, so romantic (*..high school girl sigh..*). I'm happy Grant faced down his demons and went in to see Rowan. Neil and Rowan's banter had me laughing out loud twice.