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All or Nothing

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Dear Author,
Look at us. You’d never believe what it took to get us to this moment. I’m older than he is and it just was a HUGE stumbling block. Add in that I’m successful and established and this cub is just getting started, and well, I didn’t give him a chance. I didn’t believe he was ready to commit, thought it was a temporary thing for him. He’s a persistent thing though, and was looking for love. Tell the story of how we got here, together, happy and secure.

Photo Description:
The photo is a typical candid shot of two men posing for a camera, in a darkened room, perhaps at a party or a bar. They are shirtless, showing off well-maintained “bear”-style physiques— ripped muscles and hairy chests, and faces with stubble. One man is younger, with short dark-brown hair, and the other man is older, with slightly graying hair and stubble. They are both leaning into each other, heads touching. The younger man has his arm around the older man’s waist, and the older man has his arm around shoulders of the younger man.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

69 pages, ebook

First published August 1, 2014

1 person is currently reading
152 people want to read

About the author

C.J. Anthony

14 books41 followers
C. J. Anthony grew up watching soap operas and reading piles of books. She attributes her love of reading and romance to her mother who not only taught her to read but also made countless trips to the library lugging those piles of books home for her to read. It wasn’t a far jump to start writing her own stories, early childhood tales about flower families and travelling to the moon with her best friend.

C. J.’s favorite stories to read and write include “opposites attract” pairings—couples who might appear to be an odd couple to the rest of the world, but to each other fit together perfectly, finding their own happy ever after with a little hard work and a whole lot of love.

Not surprisingly, C. J. is a big lover of rom coms—she’ll gladly take Julia Roberts standing in front of Hugh Grant asking him to love her, over car crashes and shoot-em up movies any day. She also watches way too much TV and every singing reality show there is. She loves music and musicians of all genres and attending live concerts.

She spends most of her time juggling a day job and a commute and freelance design work on the side and falling asleep on her couch, dreaming of a day when she can work all day in her pajamas while living in a house by the beach.

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5 stars
42 (15%)
4 stars
134 (50%)
3 stars
85 (31%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
Profile Image for ~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semicolons~✡~.
3,609 reviews1,144 followers
August 23, 2014
4.25 stars

This is the gay book version of the Hollywood romantic comedy: totally adorable, humorous, a bit steamy, sweet for days, with situational coincidences that are not entirely believable but who cares?



I loved John and Mark. It took John so long to realize that Mark was The One, and that the age difference (John's 45 to Mark's 25, AND Mark, as a gangly teen, used to deliver the paper to John's house, crushing on John) was just a number, but when he finally got it, I cheered.

I would have loved to get Mark's POV too, although an observant reader saw far more than John did.

Perfect fluffy read with a sparkly HEA!

BEARS INCLUDED!

Profile Image for Exina.
1,276 reviews418 followers
January 2, 2019
“He turned down sex with you? For a date instead?”
“Yes.”
His best friend threw up his hands. “I’m done. You two are apparently made for each other.”

All or Nothing is the story of John and Mark. John is 45 and his ten-year relationship has ended recently. Mark is 25 and he was John’s neighbor when he was 15 and even then he had a huge crush on John. When Mark spots John in a bar, he immediately makes a move on him, but John doesn’t want to get involved because of the age difference.

It’s a wonderful slow-burn romance: it takes John months to realize how he feels for Marc, and to be able to set aside the age difference.

Heartwarming story, highly recommended!
Profile Image for Ingie.
1,484 reviews167 followers
October 27, 2014
Written October 27, 2014

3 Stars - A very simple nice shortie - Warm, tender and sweet

I started to read this one a morning weeks ago and next to forget it. Picked it up again this morning and I'm glad I did. This was a nice story and I liked this calm slow style. Real love between "real" (bear) men and just a tiny bit steam.



All or Nothing is a M/M Romance Group 70 pages freebie novella (download here). This story was inspired from a photo with two:
‘...shirtless, showing off well-maintained “bear”-style physiques— ripped muscles and hairy chests, and faces with stubble. One man is younger, with short dark-brown hair, and the other man is older, with slightly graying hair and stubble. ...’

A romance about age difference and sweet ordinary gay "bear" men.

***********************************************************

John Mattheson is a 45 years single after a very long partnership that just slowly ended with his partner moving from town. More than a year later still with a nonexistent love life.

So is John forced to come to a "Bear Beer Beach Party Evening" for a local online bear group on a friends pub (..where you are supposed to be 'beachy' and shirtless). John doesn't feel all that comfortable with a night out and drinks one or two to many beers. In a more happy and easy mood later that evening he start to talk to a young gorgeous guy. — A "cub" as his friend Mac call the young ones. — A 'boy' John known as a neighboor kid long ago.
‘The boy was tan and dark haired—everywhere, from the short cropped hair on his head, to the dark, sexy eyebrows, the heavy scruff on his jaw and chin, and oh-my-God smatteri g of dark covering his perfect pecz and well-chiseled abs. A sculpptor could not have done it better.’

Mark Kincaid is now a 26 years old college student and a halftime licensed massage therapist. ~ And he tells John he long ago had his first boy-love-crush in the much older goodlooking manly John.
Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos

Mark is very interested and want to date and see John more but John has a hard time to handle this with their ages.

I was a bit angry at this stubborn 'old' man sometimes but anyway here started a slowly growing, but believable in the end, very cuddle-sweet love story.

***********************************************************

Something to read when you want short, light & easy.
A slightly stubborn, tenacious and terrified 45-year-old is also a kind of character I know well back from RL. ~ There was a story in the story about net-dating here. So fun, it's not all that easy to hit the mark with a few lines in an email.

Nothing overwhelming emotionally memorable but very nicely told.

I LIKE - simply nice and I like NICE in between
Profile Image for Emma Sea.
2,214 reviews1,231 followers
August 1, 2014
Oh, I really liked this sweet story. A classic m/m romance plot with a sugary HEA.
Profile Image for Ami.
6,261 reviews489 followers
July 24, 2016
While let's face it, when it comes to May/December romance, the whole "I'm too old for you, we are in different phase in life, you will need to live your life and I will just drag you down" issue has been hashed and rehashed so many times ... but it doesn't mean that it becomes boring when it's done right.

This is one of the examples. I thought the story was lovely. John was actually kind of adorable. His concerns of Mark didn't bother me at all ... after all, John had the right to get scared when the young man he liked had actually delivered his newspaper at one time, and they first met when Mark was NINE years old! :)

Yep, it was a cute one -- and definitely the perfect in-between story. Besides I need more character above 40 years old. I loved it, it made me smile, and the Epilogue was the right-kind-sweetness HEA.



PS: Thanks for the review, Emma!!
Profile Image for Sunny.
1,012 reviews126 followers
August 3, 2016
3.5

I enjoyed this sweet story :)

Mark and John made a cute couple. And hot.
Yes, I do like the bears.

And I didn't get irritated by John's misgivings, so that was a plus. Poor Mark, though. Lol...and poor John, actually :)

Anyway, a simple, easy to read story, perfect for in-between heavy reads. A keeper for me.
Profile Image for * A Reader Obsessed *.
2,712 reviews581 followers
June 7, 2017
3.5 Stars

I was just cruising my kindle and came upon this from last year's DRitC event and I have to say I really enjoyed myself!

John has somewhat recently gotten out of a long term relationship - he's got his daily routine down just how he likes it, he's successful and stable, and he's looking for another partner to share his life with. Thing is, he doesn't go out much and avoids the bar scene, but his bff drags him out to be social. (On a side note, this friend owns a bear club! How convenient - John's a bear too!) It just so happens he's confronted with a blast from his past - Mark, 20 years his junior, used to be his neighbor. Mark doesn't hide the fact that he's always found John attractive, but John is horrified at the age difference - there's no way they could work despite this "cub" being off the charts hot and totally having his shit together.

Commence a slow burn, a variety of missteps, and an attraction that John denies over and over. It's a good thing Mark is smart, determined and especially patient.

This was a very nice "bear/cub", age gap, sexy story showing the roundabout way of how John finally gets his head out of his ass.

This was not too short, not too sweet, but just right.
Profile Image for Mercedes.
1,182 reviews97 followers
August 2, 2014
4.5 stars. An extra half star to thank TPTB for hairy chests and treasure trails! God bless all hairy men: bears, muscle bears, cubs, otters, etc etc...

What a sweet (yet not overly saccharine) story. The epilogue made me so happy!
Profile Image for Johnny.
448 reviews45 followers
October 17, 2014
A few niggles here an there but I'm a sucker for slow burn romance. Sweet and satisfying read. :)
Profile Image for Meep.
2,171 reviews230 followers
June 26, 2015
A cute little story of an older bear fighting his attraction for the cub that's determined to catch him.

Like that they became friends first and the worries holding them back were believeable while it became more and more evident how well they matched.

The ending is pure sugar.
Profile Image for Nile Princess.
1,582 reviews173 followers
September 21, 2017
Absolutely wonderful! I loved this so much. Everyone knows I love an older hero. Make him a sexy, muscled bear type and I'm sold. Compound it with a sexy cub who won't take no for an answer. Whew! Yes! Loved the pacing, the humor, the secondary characters. Just all around great story telling. A+
Profile Image for Serena Yates.
Author 104 books771 followers
November 17, 2016
Very cute May/December romance between John, who is in his midforties, and Mark, who is twenty-five and used to have a crush on John when they were neighbors ten years before they meet again at a friend's party.

Mark is in college and serious about becoming a qualified massage therapist and owning his own business. The more he sees of John, now that they are both adults, the more he is sure that his former crush has changed into more. He is not interested in hookups and ready to settle down, but he is having a devil of a time convincing John that he is serious.

John does feel attracted to Mark, but he keeps telling himself that he is to old for him. Never mind that all the other guys he keeps dating wash out, John is determined that he and Mark can't be a couple. But then Mark suddenly really needs John's help, and things begin t change...

If you like May/December romances and all the angst and concerns surrounding them, if you believe that there are cases where age really doesn't matter, and if you're looking for a sweet read with lots of emotions, then you will probably like this free novella.
Profile Image for ⚣Michaelle⚣.
3,662 reviews234 followers
June 3, 2017
4 Stars

I loved the slow burn of this story...especially given John's continued hesitance to date Mark. And despite the "OMG YOU ALMOST DIED" trope-inspired revelation, I really thought they made a great couple...and that's not an easy feat given my own doubts about how well May/December romances (in books) can actually work out. Mark's maturity, his confidence, his willingness to be a friend and wait for John to realize what a great pair they could make...combined with how much they do have in common? Well, that's exactly the kind of things I needed to see explored and detailed to believe their budding romance.
Profile Image for Sandra.
4,125 reviews13 followers
October 13, 2014

Offered for FREE from the M/M Romance Group's Love's Landscapes event. Thank you too all the amazing authors who participated!

Well wasn't this just super sweet?! I wouldn't have minded if they'd gotten together a smidge sooner, but I liked the process of becoming friends first. The sex was hot too. Only complaint, is that Alistair could have been handled a little more considerably. Hope Mac's story is next!
Profile Image for Amber.
1,294 reviews33 followers
March 28, 2019
I'm usually not a big fan of short stories but this one just clicked for me. It was sweet and cute without tons of drama. The relationship between John and Mark completely drives the story. I love that Mark tries so hard to get his teenage crush not by sex but dating him. I also really liked John's angst at dating someone he knew as a little kid and then as a teenager. It also had a nice little wrap up in the end to give it a HEA ending.
Profile Image for Kelly L.
154 reviews7 followers
July 12, 2015
The setting in a location familiar to me added to my enjoyment of this cute read. I was so happy for Mark when he ran into the much older, former neighbor John, 10 years after crushing on him in his teens.

But it was Mark who was actually the more mature of the two, with John being a big baby about the age difference. :) It was short and sweet with the HEA that Mark absolutely deserved and John better be thankful for. LOL Cute short story!
Profile Image for Melyna.
918 reviews15 followers
September 28, 2014
I absolutely love stories like this. Love against the odds. May/December. However you want to think of it. This is sweet, humorous and sexy. John and Mark are lovely characters and I enjoyed that they had to work for their HEA, work through some real life issues and find their happiness. Just lovely!
Profile Image for Debbie.
128 reviews46 followers
August 2, 2014
Funny, sexy, sweet, loved this perfect confection of a romance.
Profile Image for Alona.
676 reviews11 followers
August 14, 2014
Adorable shortie!
I'm not crazy about "bears" but it was a sweet story with lovely HEA.
Profile Image for LostinBooks.
65 reviews1 follower
September 2, 2014
Loved this funny, sexy, sweet mm romance. John and Mark were really cute but Mac really made it fun!
Profile Image for Kristan.
379 reviews41 followers
August 1, 2014
3.5 stars

A short and sweet contemporary romance about two men trying to overcome a 20 year age gap. John is 45 and hasn't dated anyone since his partner of 10 years, Ian, left him. He's out one night at a Bear Bar and runs into an old neighbor, Mark, who just happens to be 25. John can't see past the fact that this young man once delivered his papers and drove by regularly on his bike, to see the wonderful man that he's become. Despite Mark trying to encourage a romantic relationship, the age issue keeps coming up in the most embarrassing of ways and eventually they agree to be friends.

John, John, John...

description

I liked you as a character but you were pretty effin clueless. How on earth could you think that talking to Mark about all of the other men you were going out on dates with, for months on end, was a good thing? Did it not cross your mind even once, that it might have been hurtful?

Even though this story is told from John's POV, it's really Mark who shines here. He's so kind and patient and all around sweet character. I was rooting for him the entire time. And Mac, this crazy friend of John's, was a scene stealer and so entertaining. I looked forward to seeing him on page.

This was a well written, quick read, with an interesting take on the age-gap romance. My one niggle regarding the writing style was that it became a little less polished from the second half of the story on. Names and words made repeat appearances in successive sentences and it interrupted the flow of reading. It's a minor niggle and just a personal one. This story could actually benefit from being longer - once these men get together they encounter some obstacles that were are told they get through, but I wish we could have seen it. I'm all for people working to make it happen. It's wrapped up with a pretty bow but I would love to read the gritty journey that got them there. (As far as complaints go, wanting to read more isn't a bad one). Aside from that, this was an enjoyable read with a really sweet epilogue.

My thanks to the author for their time and participation in this event.

Profile Image for Jeanne 'Divinae'.
994 reviews17 followers
November 1, 2014
John is a forty-five year old single man. He was in a long term relationship that had fizzled out and his friend Mac, decides it is his mission to get John back out in the ‘scene’. At a party, thrown by Mac, he meets an old neighbor of his, Mark. Mark, who is twenty years younger than him, has had the hots for John since, forever. They become friends. Mark makes it known that he is interested in John. Their friendship is coming along well, even a few dates. But John simply can’t get over their age difference.

This story is a slow romance. We have two guys, who seem to fit so well together, if only John can come to terms of the age difference. We follow John on his journey to finding the right man for him. Perhaps, it was one that had been standing in front of him for a while.
Profile Image for Eve.
574 reviews
January 28, 2016
enjoyed how the younger member of this age difference coupling was the one actively seeking a relationship and was willing to wait when needed.

this book was amongst one of many, uh, "media content pieces" that helped me realize that age differences is a significant part of my sexuality.

thanks guy-boner [punny reference to those pre-2008 market crash commercials for buyowner (I think it was a website for diy selling your home, but now what started as an obscure pun becomes a almost spammy ad, so I'm just gonna shut up now.]
Profile Image for melek.
1,191 reviews10 followers
December 8, 2014
John at 45years old is looking for his forever after, after his long time partner left him. Johns friend mac invite for bear party. Forever trying to set him.

Chance meeting he meets Mark who was the boy next door who had a chance on him. His 25 years old but john keeps reminding him that marks to old. But when love comes it doesn't matter about age or anything love conquers all.
Profile Image for Jenny Wood.
Author 26 books311 followers
November 14, 2015
John was Marks neighbor when Mark was growing up, a huge age gap keeps John from wanting to date Mark.
I really felt for Mark, having feelings for John and having to sit by and be friends with him while he dated and stuff just cuz he didn't take Mark's crush serious... They did get together in the end though, so... it was very cute.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews

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