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Missing Piece
Dear Author,
He’d lost everything dear to him in one devastating moment. His family turned their backs on him; his friends no longer took his calls. It was the one moment that he was totally true to himself, the moment he told them that he was in love with another man.
With all of that loss you’d think the universe would be at least a little nice to him… no, the man he loved so dearly and risked everything for was on his couch with the twink from downstairs.
Is it bad that I had a hard time holding in my elation? I have wanted him from the moment I saw him. Could it finally be my time? Could he ever really want me?
Please give us our HEA.
Photo Description:
The photograph shows a close-up of two young men from behind. Both are wearing white tank tops. One of them is holding the other close to his chest, kissing the back of his neck.
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.
He’d lost everything dear to him in one devastating moment. His family turned their backs on him; his friends no longer took his calls. It was the one moment that he was totally true to himself, the moment he told them that he was in love with another man.
With all of that loss you’d think the universe would be at least a little nice to him… no, the man he loved so dearly and risked everything for was on his couch with the twink from downstairs.
Is it bad that I had a hard time holding in my elation? I have wanted him from the moment I saw him. Could it finally be my time? Could he ever really want me?
Please give us our HEA.
Photo Description:
The photograph shows a close-up of two young men from behind. Both are wearing white tank tops. One of them is holding the other close to his chest, kissing the back of his neck.
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.
177 pages, ebook
First published September 3, 2014
1 person is currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Riina Y.T.
7 books60 followersAuthor of Spring, Bax & Butterflies, Missing Piece and Blame the Fireworks.
Riina currently resides in Germany. She spent countless exciting days in the UK and US and lost her heart in Tokyo.
She would be thrilled if one day her stories could brighten someone’s day in the way those beautiful romances always lighten up her dull everyday life. Riina is looking forward to sharing many more stories with the world.
When she doesn’t daydream about boys in love, and isn’t glued to her Kindle, Riina loves to travel the world and explore the unknown.
Riina currently resides in Germany. She spent countless exciting days in the UK and US and lost her heart in Tokyo.
She would be thrilled if one day her stories could brighten someone’s day in the way those beautiful romances always lighten up her dull everyday life. Riina is looking forward to sharing many more stories with the world.
When she doesn’t daydream about boys in love, and isn’t glued to her Kindle, Riina loves to travel the world and explore the unknown.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
September 5, 2014
As with their first book for the Loves Landscapes series, the core of Missing Piece is a good one. The author knows how to write that "pinning for you" feeling and we get it from both MC's in this story.
Leo fell in love with the boy across the street when he was just a teenager, while staying at his grandmothers over the summer. He never got over that crush, and as he got older, no other man could measure up to Mattia. (I must admit I had a lot of difficulty with the name - I've never encountered it before and it threw me off every time I read it. It does however produce an adorable nickname - Tia). Mattia always wondered what happened to Leo, felt bad about how he treated him at the end of that summer, and continued to think of him from time to time. Ten years pass and by chance they run into each other at a business conference. They reconnect, a deep friendship is born and both men hide a part of themselves from the other. Leo can't tell Tia he's in love with him for fear of losing him and Tia can't tell Leo that he's in a relationship with a man for fear he'll lose his friendship. Leo and Tia's friendship is so deep and caring that in reality they are dating without either realising it. So when Mattia's boyfriend of two years cheats on him, Leo is there to pick Mattia up off the floor and help him move on. Both men realise they love each other and want to be together but it's Tia's beautiful speech to Leo that finally gets them on the same page.
I liked this story and the characters were great. It's told with alternating POV's, and I especially liked that we had to wait until the end for sex. As with the author's last story, a lot of this one takes place within the characters head. There is a lot of introspection, sorting of feelings and rehashing of points that, unfortunately, at times comes across as telling rather than showing. As a result, it did make it a little difficult to get through because it interferes with the pacing of the story. I have no doubt however, that as the author gets more comfortable with their writing style, this won't be such an issue.
Mattia was so endearing, and coupled with his speech to Leo, it will be a re-read for me in the future.
My thanks to the author for their time and participation in the Loves Landscapes event.
Leo fell in love with the boy across the street when he was just a teenager, while staying at his grandmothers over the summer. He never got over that crush, and as he got older, no other man could measure up to Mattia. (I must admit I had a lot of difficulty with the name - I've never encountered it before and it threw me off every time I read it. It does however produce an adorable nickname - Tia). Mattia always wondered what happened to Leo, felt bad about how he treated him at the end of that summer, and continued to think of him from time to time. Ten years pass and by chance they run into each other at a business conference. They reconnect, a deep friendship is born and both men hide a part of themselves from the other. Leo can't tell Tia he's in love with him for fear of losing him and Tia can't tell Leo that he's in a relationship with a man for fear he'll lose his friendship. Leo and Tia's friendship is so deep and caring that in reality they are dating without either realising it. So when Mattia's boyfriend of two years cheats on him, Leo is there to pick Mattia up off the floor and help him move on. Both men realise they love each other and want to be together but it's Tia's beautiful speech to Leo that finally gets them on the same page.
I liked this story and the characters were great. It's told with alternating POV's, and I especially liked that we had to wait until the end for sex. As with the author's last story, a lot of this one takes place within the characters head. There is a lot of introspection, sorting of feelings and rehashing of points that, unfortunately, at times comes across as telling rather than showing. As a result, it did make it a little difficult to get through because it interferes with the pacing of the story. I have no doubt however, that as the author gets more comfortable with their writing style, this won't be such an issue.
Mattia was so endearing, and coupled with his speech to Leo, it will be a re-read for me in the future.
My thanks to the author for their time and participation in the Loves Landscapes event.
September 3, 2014
For some reason, I found it hard to read this story. I found myself taking ‘breaks’ from reading it. The storyline wasn’t bad, actually I liked the storyline. The story itself, just doesn’t stick around for long in my head. I even had to go back to see their names again, because I forgot. I gave it three stars because of the storyline! Plus, the loose ends were wrapped up nicely at the end.
It is about two men who met when they were young teenagers. Both of them harbored a crush towards the other, unbeknownst. They were just lucky to have met once again at a conference they both attended, ten years later. Even more of a coincidence is that they happen to live in the same city a mere twenty minutes away from one another.
Mattia is in a relationship, one he is committed too. He is loyal to a fault. But his boyfriend is a jerk. Mattia will see soon enough. He can’t help but have strong feelings for his long lost friend, Leo. He is confused and wants to keep Leo in his life.
This story is about Leo watching from the sidelines as the man of his dreams is in another relationship. He could have been/could be that man by his side and not on the sidelines. But he is happy to have Mattia back in his life.
They both feel best when near each other.
In all honestly, they are dating. They just aren’t aware of it. Everyone else sees/knows it. Even Richard, the jerk of a boyfriend, notices the chemistry between them right off the bat. Of course he isn’t too concerned over it. In fact, if it wasn’t for Richard being a cheater, Mattia and Leo would probably never have had gone that extra step to be together.
Let alone is Leo the guy for Mattia, Leo has a family(his mother) who adores Mattia. Something that Mattia doesn’t have, since everyone from his old friends to his family ditched him for being gay.
It is about two men who met when they were young teenagers. Both of them harbored a crush towards the other, unbeknownst. They were just lucky to have met once again at a conference they both attended, ten years later. Even more of a coincidence is that they happen to live in the same city a mere twenty minutes away from one another.
Mattia is in a relationship, one he is committed too. He is loyal to a fault. But his boyfriend is a jerk. Mattia will see soon enough. He can’t help but have strong feelings for his long lost friend, Leo. He is confused and wants to keep Leo in his life.
This story is about Leo watching from the sidelines as the man of his dreams is in another relationship. He could have been/could be that man by his side and not on the sidelines. But he is happy to have Mattia back in his life.
They both feel best when near each other.
In all honestly, they are dating. They just aren’t aware of it. Everyone else sees/knows it. Even Richard, the jerk of a boyfriend, notices the chemistry between them right off the bat. Of course he isn’t too concerned over it. In fact, if it wasn’t for Richard being a cheater, Mattia and Leo would probably never have had gone that extra step to be together.
Let alone is Leo the guy for Mattia, Leo has a family(his mother) who adores Mattia. Something that Mattia doesn’t have, since everyone from his old friends to his family ditched him for being gay.
September 1, 2018
There was a good short story in there. Unfortunately, it was lost within a book that was four times too long.
September 16, 2014
I thought about comparing these "men" to girls at some point, but then I realized that it would be extremely insulting to women, because these two were absolutely spineless, ready to faint slowpokes that took pages to respond to simple questions and behaved like tranquilizer-stunned queens.
But I decided to wait to see Matt's reaction to his boyfriend's affair, and you know what it was? Shouting "OMG DON'T YOU LOVE ME?" with all the accompanying tearful drama.
I wanted to sympathize with them, I really did. But there was nothing to like about these characters.
But I decided to wait to see Matt's reaction to his boyfriend's affair, and you know what it was? Shouting "OMG DON'T YOU LOVE ME?" with all the accompanying tearful drama.
I wanted to sympathize with them, I really did. But there was nothing to like about these characters.
June 24, 2016
Despite it's length this story didn't feel rushed. Both men are willing to be friends. Neither wants to be responsible for hurting the other one. And when Mattia is at his lowest point Leo doesn't take advantage . In fact Leo is so cautious he almost loses it all for the sake of not pushing. And like in real life people miss the cues and almost stubble upon the truth with each other.
November 12, 2014
This was just so boring. Way too much reflection in the beginning. Too much description of things. I just didn't really care about either character about a quarter of the way through. I skimmed most of it and didn't even really want to read the sex scenes. Sorry.
May 2, 2019
Decent story, but I just didn't really connect with any of the characters. They all seemed a little wooden, a bit animatronic in speech.
December 8, 2014
So I accidentally deleted my review for this. The book was twice added but i guess when i removed one both removed well wont do that again.
So i tried to salvage what my review was before am not sure what happened.
The story is slow pace about second chances if you like a slow pace story this is the one for you.Leo and mattia were childhood friends, one day Mattia left and said to leo to leave him alone never to be seen.( we find out why later on in the story. But what happens when they meet again 10 years later, will there be love. They reconnect while working together, BUt soon leo finds out Mattia is gay and has a boyfriend. Leo cant help fall in-love but mattia is faithful to his boyfriend until he find out he cheated on him.
Will leo and mattia find there way to love how can an rebound not be a rebound and be true. Read and find out well i hope that was about it.
Well i cant remember what else i wrote what a bad memory i have. Anyway i tried my best considering yeah learned my lesson don't remove stuff you can get back (NOTE TO MYSELF)
So i tried to salvage what my review was before am not sure what happened.
The story is slow pace about second chances if you like a slow pace story this is the one for you.Leo and mattia were childhood friends, one day Mattia left and said to leo to leave him alone never to be seen.( we find out why later on in the story. But what happens when they meet again 10 years later, will there be love. They reconnect while working together, BUt soon leo finds out Mattia is gay and has a boyfriend. Leo cant help fall in-love but mattia is faithful to his boyfriend until he find out he cheated on him.
Will leo and mattia find there way to love how can an rebound not be a rebound and be true. Read and find out well i hope that was about it.
Well i cant remember what else i wrote what a bad memory i have. Anyway i tried my best considering yeah learned my lesson don't remove stuff you can get back (NOTE TO MYSELF)
September 22, 2014
Man goodreads app really hates me! I tried to save my review towns of times!
Here we go again.
I really enjoyed this book and I feel in love with Leo as a crazy punk kid to the sexy business man. I really enjoy how Leo and Mattia's relationship develops and it's nice to see long lost friends back together and becoming something more.
I like Mattia he's such a cool guy he does need to be more confident about his feelings but I like him and how much he cares for the ones he love. And prince how can I forget prince!!! Such a funny cat! Wish there was more scenes with Leo, Tia and prince.
I liked this plot since I saw it on the event and I thought it would be a bit tricky to deal with it since it's hard to have things work out after a break up and not make the friend be just a rebound. But the author did a good job with that and I really enjoyed reading it!
Here we go again.
I really enjoyed this book and I feel in love with Leo as a crazy punk kid to the sexy business man. I really enjoy how Leo and Mattia's relationship develops and it's nice to see long lost friends back together and becoming something more.
I like Mattia he's such a cool guy he does need to be more confident about his feelings but I like him and how much he cares for the ones he love. And prince how can I forget prince!!! Such a funny cat! Wish there was more scenes with Leo, Tia and prince.
I liked this plot since I saw it on the event and I thought it would be a bit tricky to deal with it since it's hard to have things work out after a break up and not make the friend be just a rebound. But the author did a good job with that and I really enjoyed reading it!
November 1, 2015
I love it when a relationship has a shot at a second chance, when timing just isn’t right the first time around but then destiny brings them back together. Yeah, this was satisfying on that level and I thought it was a very nice take on the original story prompt. Thanks for this contribution to the Love’s Landscapes event!!
September 5, 2014
3.75 stars
September 4, 2014
2 stars but bump to 3 since it was a MM romance group Love's Landscapes.
After reading the author letter I really expected this book to go a different way.
After reading the author letter I really expected this book to go a different way.
September 4, 2014
I love the cover for this story, it's really cool. Thank you for your story & time in the LL event.
dnf
September 14, 2014Just couldn't stick with this. It seemed way longer than it needed to be and just meandered unnecessarily.
September 26, 2014
3.5 stars rounded up
November 12, 2014
DNF at 20% . Until the 20% mark slow motion rambling/reflection and two MC's who need ages to answer to a perfectly clear question.
Read
January 18, 2016can't get into that story. skipping.
August 31, 2018
one extra star or being DRitC, but otherwise, a boring book. The characters spent far too much time in their heads on inner monologues. There was a lot of telling, not showing. Also, I never felt connected to the characters.
Want to read
November 6, 2014
Offered for FREE from the M/M Romance Group's Love's Landscapes event. Thank you too all the amazing authors who participated!
Want to read
September 8, 2014STORY INFO:
Genre: contemporary
Tags: businessmen, friends to lovers, slow burn/UST, cookie addiction, sweet romance, hurt/comfort, angst
Content Warning: infidelity/cheating of secondary character
Word Count: 65,325
Genre: contemporary
Tags: businessmen, friends to lovers, slow burn/UST, cookie addiction, sweet romance, hurt/comfort, angst
Content Warning: infidelity/cheating of secondary character
Word Count: 65,325
event-stories-unread
June 12, 2015[NOTE: I rate most writing event stories (free reads) 4 or 5 stars because of my appreciation of the author's participation and gift.]
November 8, 2014
Review to come
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews