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Encore

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An anthology about musicals… with a twist.

Who can resist a musical? We at Wayward Ink certainly can’t!

Boys and Girls, go don your tux. Slink into your gown. Strap on your heels. Dust off that tiara and wrap yourselves in a feather boa! Come celebrate the extravaganza with us!

Waltz through ten short stories inspired by some of the world’s most popular musicals.

261 pages, ebook

First published March 20, 2015

30 people want to read

About the author

Louise Lyons

31 books64 followers
I currently live in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, having moved from my home town of Grimsby in 2010. I come from a family of writers, although my Mum, Nana and Auntie have all written poetry. For me, it has always been fiction that drew me.Louise Lyons introductory photograph

It started with Mum’s old manual typewriter when I was eight years old – a story about a little girl and a pony, which at the time was my dream. By the time I reached my early teens, I progressed to romance although I still only wrote for my own pleasure. This quickly developed into primarily gay romance stories and when I discovered the world of Fanfiction, I gradually built up a large following in some fandoms.

Knowing that other people liked my work drove me to follow a new dream – to become a published author – which has finally been realised with Dreamspinner Press.

On this site you can keep up to date with all my latest news on my upcoming book and lots more about me, as I post regular blogs. Read my articles.Feel free to contact me with any comments or questions. I’ll always do my best to answer each and every one. Get in touch with me.

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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Profile Image for Ro.
3,124 reviews16 followers
March 20, 2015
This anthology has stories tied together on the basis of musicals. From Grease to the Phantom of the Opera, the ten stories range from cute and sweet to a little sad. As always with anthologies, I had clear favorites but I enjoyed all the stories here. Some highlights:

What’s Up Pussycat? By Louise Lyons. Rated 3.5 hearts.
This story starts out so sad – six months ago at exactly two o’clock on a Sunday morning Finley lost his beloved, Andrew, in an accident. Since then every Sunday at two in the morning, Finley goes to Andrew’s grave and grieves, hard. Andrew was a dancer, performing on stage as Mistoffelees in Cats. Finley’s parents aren’t close (having disapproved of having a gay son) and he has few friends. Just his grief. He decides to try out for a role in Cats, something to make Andrew proud.

When Finley gets the part, he has to deal with an obnoxious cast mate, Karl. He makes new friends, however, and he’s really putting his all into it. I liked the way the story ran from here, since it really showed you can’t judge people by some actions, you have to get to know them. Also, that second chances sometimes make all the difference. This is more of a story of moving on with the possibility of new beginnings.

Over the Rainbow by Lily G. Blunt – Rated 3 hearts. While I really liked the idea of the school putting on a production of the Wizard of Oz, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why they were insistent that Dorian play the female role! The story of Dorian and his mentor, Mark, was up and down and Dorian’s feeling of overload with his work as a teacher got an “amen”! (Yes, I am a teacher.) Mark gave some serious mixed signals here and sometimes I wanted to shake him. And Tim too, just because.

Angel in the Wings by Asta Idonea. Rated 5 hearts. I loved it. Perhaps because Marcus, with his bum leg, is reminiscent of the Phantom, in that people see the leg instead of seeing the man. When he is caught trying on the Phantom’s mask, he fears for his job. Everyone knows Christopher, the actor in the Phantom role, is a smug git who has a different woman for every occasion. Things are always what they seem, however, and this story captivated me.

My South Pacific by Taylin Clavelli. Rated 4 hearts. This story gets 4 just for the way Callum handles his cheating boyfriend and the fact that he loves his queen triggerfish. Excellent! Callum is a marine biologist and going to make a clean break, heading to Hawaii to work at the university there. Having a handsome professor, Alika, is not part of his plan. But the best laid plans fall through and all that…

Enjoy the Show by Lisa A Adams. Rated 3.5 hearts. This story focuses on Oklahoma, where Dylan is supposed to meet his first online date. When said date is a no show and Dylan instead starts lusting after the star of the show, it’s sort of comedic, considering what happens.

The One That I want by RJ Jones. Rated 4 hearts. This is one I couldn’t decide whether I really liked it or was really irritated by one of the main characters. Paul and Jason work in the same building and see each other by the elevators. When Paul finally makes a move, Jason doesn’t know what to do about it – this guy is way out of his league! But date they do, except there are some red flags Paul keeps throwing. Definitely hiding something and something’s going on. So while I loved Jason and his pee-in-your-shoes cat, Dave, I was less enamored with Paul. The reason for his secret made sense but he let it go on way too long, which showed a distrust of Jason and made me think Paul was too good a liar. But the epilogue was amazing and just what Jason deserved.

A Touch of Glamour by Alina Popescu. Rated 3.5 hearts. Tudor is a saint to put up with Radu as long as he did, the homophobic jerk! This story really not an HEA or even HFN, more of an interlude.
Profile Image for Nicki Markus.
Author 55 books298 followers
February 14, 2016
I was involved in the editing of this anthology and can tell you it includes some great stories from my fellow Wayward Ink Publishing authors. If you love musicals and M/M tales, this is the book for you!
Profile Image for Tracy~Bayou Book Junkie.
1,575 reviews47 followers
March 22, 2015
Reviews:

*This Anthology Provided to Bayou Book Junkie by the author(s)/Publisher via Eyes On Books in exchange for an honest and fair review*

What's Up Pussycat?

5 Stars

Mari's Review:


What a delightful, heartfelt story! It made me cry and it made me smile and made me all-around happy that Fin managed to overcome his sadness after losing his partner, Andrew, and started to look at the future with optimism and hope.

I loved Fin, who was so broken at the start of the story after Andrew died in a car accident, but that with the help of family and friends and his sheer determination to participate in the musical Andrew had been in, finally allowed himself to get past his depression and start living again.


Karl was lovely, too. Same as James and Andrew’s mom, Carol, they were all great secondary characters, very supportive of Fin. I have a soft spot for Karl, though, since it was kind of obvious he had a crush on Finley, and while he didn’t handle things all that well at first. He did his best to make things right with Fin and become his friend and perhaps in the future something more.

Over the Rainbow

4 stars

Mari's Review:

Dorian is one of the new teachers in an all-boys school and has been crushing on Mark Leonard, who is his mentor and superior. Mark is everything Dorian has ever dreamed his perfect man would be. There’s one problem, though, Mark is deep in the closet and he’s not sure he wants to get out of there any time soon.

I loved both the lead characters, and some of the secondary, such as Tim and Brian and watching them through Dorian’s eyes, was awesome! The musical and them rehearsing for it was pretty neat, too!


The story is sweet and fun and I read it in a couple of hours. Really enjoyable!

Broadway Devils

5 stars

Tracy's Review:

This was hilarious. I laughed throughout most of the story. Andy, an engineering major is in love with his fellow fraternity brother, law student Flynn. Flynn is dating Rocky, another fraternity brother.

The boys enter the schools annual fraternity talent show, with a rendition of "Chicago". Will they flop or bring the house down?!

This was a great read. It was fast paced, entertaining and funny as hell. I had tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard.

This is my first read by this author, but it won't be my last! I would love to see more of these characters.


Angel in the Wings

4.5 stars

Tracy's Review:

Marcus works on the set of The Phantom of the Opera. He has a crush on the lead actor Christopher, who us straight. Or is he?

This was a really enjoyable read. The story was sweet, a little angsty, and sexy. The characters had a good chemistry and connection.

This is my first book by this author, but I will be looking at her other works!

South Pacific

4.5 Stars

Mari's Review:

Callum is heartbroken after the man he thought was the man of his dreams cheated on him. Upset, he decides to move to Hawaii because he’s been in love with the movie South Pacific since he was a little kid. There he meets Alika and Callum starts wondering if he’d be able to really give up on love for good and concentrate in his career as was his plan when he got there.

Callum is fun to read, he has that self-deprecating kind of humor that I adore. Alika is older and in a place in his life where he wants something more, but he’s oh so patient with Callum, showing him in actions that he can trust in him.


The story is lovely! I loved reading about the diving and the luaus and even the sharks, it was like being in a whole different world. A fantastic read for sure.


The One I Want

4.5 stars

Tracy's Review:

Jason is an average accountant. He runs into Mr Wonderful every morning in the elevator on his way to work.

Paul asks Jason out on a date, but Jason has a hard time believing that Paul would really want to be with him, the average accountant.

This was a sweet, funny and spicy read. I have one thing to say, I want to go to a Grease Dance Party! Sounds like a fabulous time!

This was fun and entertaining and even though it was a short story, I didn't feel cheated. I felt satisfied when I was done.


A Man Who Measures up

4 Stars

Tracy's Review:

Jareth is new in town and has just landed the leading role in the musical, where Daimen works as a costume designer. They meet when Jareth comes in to be measured for his costume.

This was a good story, but to be honest it just wasn't all that exciting. It was cute and sweet, and even had a awe moment. The MC's were likable, and the story was well written.

A Touch of Glamour

4.5 Stars

Mari's Review:

I enjoyed this story so much! Tudor was awesome and I felt bad that he was saddled with this homophobic coworker, Radu. Thankfully, through a stroke of genius while wanting to make his roommate squirm, Tudor downloads the Grindr app and through it he meets Vincent, who is amazing.

Both Tudor and Vincent were so sweet and taken with the other in their whirlwind romance, and I would've loved for the story to go on for longer.

Enjoy The Show

4 Stars

Tracy's Review:

When Dylan supposed to meet Steven at a dinner theater featuring the production of Oklahoma. When Steven doesn't show, Dylan decides to stick around have dinner and some wine while he enjoys the show. Some harmless flirting with the lead actor doesn't hurt either.

This was a very short story that had a twist I wasn't expecting. It was well written and enjoyable.

A Night at the Opera

3.75 Stars

Mari's Review:

I don't know what I was expecting, after all the other romances, perhaps something more along those lines. This was more "lust at first sight" than anything else and I was left wanting. I didn't connect as much with the characters, mostly because they kind of went behind their best friend's back.

Other than that, it was a very short story, and despite my misgivings about the way they started whatever it was between them, it was entertaining and well written.
Profile Image for Terry.
189 reviews4 followers
October 9, 2016
Encore, an anthology published by Wayward Ink Publishing, is a compilation of short stories written by a variety of wonderful authors. Each story is based off a broadway musical but with a twist that makes them fun, entertaining and quite wonderful. Even with the 10 stories being short, I was drawn into each one which were as unique and spellbinding as the authors themselves.

Take for example Eric Gober’s, Broadway Devils. Based in Phoenix Arizona, the boys of Gamma Alpha Epsilon had decided they were going to put on their rendition of Chicago for “Greek Sing”, an annual performance that is hosted by the fraternities and sororities of ASU. Andy is very taken with Flynn who he thinks doesn’t even notice him in a romantic nature. Flynn and Rocky, who might I add Andy dislikes with a passion, are involved with each other.

During the story, Andy gets involved with a sleazy guy named Val who had sworn Andy to secrecy about their sexual interludes. That was until one day Andy came to the frat house to find Rocky and Val in his bed having sex. All hell broke lose when Andy pulled a paintball gun on the two, chased them outside and opened fire on the two naked men. Well almost naked. Val was wearing a condom. With two of them naked and splattered with multi-colored pain and Andy having gotten rid of the paintball gun by the time the cops arrived, the three were taken in for questioning and booking. The imagery of the scene had me giggling at first then down right laughing out loud by the end of the scene. This is the kind of humor that was laced into the entire story of Broadway Devils.

Just as with that story, each one in Encore has it’s own twist and take on the musicals. I would highly recommend picking this anthology up for anyone who enjoys broadway hits. You won’t be disappointed by it.
Profile Image for Lillian Francis.
Author 15 books102 followers
May 1, 2016
Cream of the crop - A Man Who Measures up. The only 5 star read in this collection.

What’s Up Pussycat? Less a romance, more a story of a man overcoming grief.
Over the Rainbow - While I enjoyed the story I couldn't understand the insistence that Dorian play Dorothy when they had female teachers! It would have made more sense if it had been an all male staff.
Broadway Devils - Funny and I enjoyed it but I needed more connection moments between the final pairing since the MC spends most of the story fucking someone else off page.
Angel in the Wings - Again, the bane of the short story strikes, I needed just a few more connecting moments shown before they got together. Even if it was misinterpreted looks from the stage.
Enjoy the Show by Lisa A Adams. I knew what was happening pretty much from the outset but I didn't care. Sometimes its great to know where you're going and just enjoy the journey to get there :)
The One That I want by RJ Jones - I could understand Paul's reasons for acting as he did, but Jason's actions weren't so clear and actually annoyed me a bit. I mean who turns his phone off for the whole week when he's been told his lover is going out of town and will phone because he doesn't want to be disappoint when he doesn't call #theboysgotissues
A Man Who Measures up by Cecil Wilde. - Easily my favourite story of the bunch. Damaged hero. Lace panties. Rocky Horror. What is not to love? Well written too. Loved it. All the stars.
Profile Image for Jennifer Zamora.
324 reviews9 followers
March 23, 2015
Angel in the Wings

As with any anthology, there are some stories I loved, and others not so much. This was a good read. Loved how the stories are bound together with an unusual ties. Musicals. These stories range from short and sweet, to short and not sweet, to down right heart break. I would recommend reading these short stories.
My main focus was on Angel In The Wings. I am not into the M/M scene, but this story is a cute addition or side story to the Phantom of the Opera. Can the side lines held more intrigue than the stage. In this story I would have to say yes. Christopher has the stage and audience to himself. And Marcus' attention is fully focused on the young Phantom also. As they 2 get closer, they heat the scene behind the curtains as much as the love story Christopher plays out on stage.
I have skipped around a little, so may change my review (not rating) based of the last I believe 2 I havent finished yet.
Profile Image for Claudia.
1,154 reviews
July 26, 2015
THE ONE THAT I WANT - RJ JONES
Such a sweet story - loved it
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews

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