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Checked Baggage
When Faris has to take a trip back to his family's home in Lebanon to handle his grandmother's estate, he finds himself caught between the world he left as a child and the world he's built himself in the United States. After an exhausting stay with his boisterous extended family, all he wants is a quiet trip home before Thanksgiving with his parents in Massachusetts. But the weather has different plans for him.
Charlie's father left when he was a toddler, and he's never gotten the chance to connect with his paternal roots. A trip to the village his family left in the 1930s gave him the facts, but left him yearning for a history he still didn't feel.
When both men are stuck in Beirut for the night unexpectedly, can they find the connection they're missing and make it home by Thanksgiving?
Charlie's father left when he was a toddler, and he's never gotten the chance to connect with his paternal roots. A trip to the village his family left in the 1930s gave him the facts, but left him yearning for a history he still didn't feel.
When both men are stuck in Beirut for the night unexpectedly, can they find the connection they're missing and make it home by Thanksgiving?
42 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 12, 2018
14 people want to read
About the author
Valentine Wheeler
15 books33 followersValentine (she/her) lives in Boston, where she goes by Lis and spends her time citing obscure postal regulations and arguing with a preschooler. She writes queer joy, often with a speculative twist, and always full of bisexuals.
She serves as Logistics and Fiction Editor for Wizards in Space Literary Magazine, and her work can be found at The Future Fire and Ninestar Press.
She serves as Logistics and Fiction Editor for Wizards in Space Literary Magazine, and her work can be found at The Future Fire and Ninestar Press.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
November 9, 2018
This was so heartwarming. Sadly, most of what I know about Beirut and Lebanon has to do with fighting and war. This story introduced me to this part of the world in a different light. I enjoyed the characters and the virtual trip. Well done!
February 11, 2019
A lovely short story about home with a thanksgiving theme.
Faris is in Lebanon to sort out his grandmother's estate. He doesn't really miss the country of his birth, although he is glad to be able to visit. The US is home for him and he is looking forward to all the family preparations for thanksgiving back in the US. Faris is annoyed when his flight home to the US is cancelled and all the hotels are full. He is tired and dreading going back to his Lebanese relatives and so he is thankful when he manages to get a room in a nearby hotel and because he knows how difficult it is he offers his assistance to a fellow traveller from the US.
Charlie is searching for home. Although he is from the US his father was Lebanese and he went to Lebanon to find his roots and to find out more about his father who died when he was a toddler. He doesn't feel that he fits in with his mother's side of the family and he needs to find out more about his Lebanese heritage. He needs to find home.
When both men find themselves stranded at the airport Faris allows Charlie to share his hotel room. Both men are attracted to each other and one things leads to another but can a one night stand be anything other than a one night stand? Can a one night stand ever lead to home?
As the two men exchange their stories and histories, Faris holds back because he doesn't see the need to take things any further, than one night, but another chance meeting has both men reconsidering the possibilities and perhaps Charlie might also begin to find a home at thanksgiving.
I enjoyed this. Although it is a short story it is told really well and both characters come to life in the story in a way which evokes memories and feelings about needing to get home especially after long travels. Charlie comes across as bereft and a little lonely while Faris comes across as being very self-sufficient and secure because he knows where home is for him. Both Lebanon and the US are home to him, although his ties to the US are stronger. Charlie comes across as lost. Neither the US nor Lebanon are home for him and his character comes across as adrift.
And then the two men meet.
I really enjoyed this short story and I wanted to know more and to see if the two men would eventually become home for each other. I liked it because of the way it evokes the need that each of us has for home and belonging, and because it has a hopeful ending which is just right for a short story.
Copy provided by Nine Star Press via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Faris is in Lebanon to sort out his grandmother's estate. He doesn't really miss the country of his birth, although he is glad to be able to visit. The US is home for him and he is looking forward to all the family preparations for thanksgiving back in the US. Faris is annoyed when his flight home to the US is cancelled and all the hotels are full. He is tired and dreading going back to his Lebanese relatives and so he is thankful when he manages to get a room in a nearby hotel and because he knows how difficult it is he offers his assistance to a fellow traveller from the US.
Charlie is searching for home. Although he is from the US his father was Lebanese and he went to Lebanon to find his roots and to find out more about his father who died when he was a toddler. He doesn't feel that he fits in with his mother's side of the family and he needs to find out more about his Lebanese heritage. He needs to find home.
When both men find themselves stranded at the airport Faris allows Charlie to share his hotel room. Both men are attracted to each other and one things leads to another but can a one night stand be anything other than a one night stand? Can a one night stand ever lead to home?
As the two men exchange their stories and histories, Faris holds back because he doesn't see the need to take things any further, than one night, but another chance meeting has both men reconsidering the possibilities and perhaps Charlie might also begin to find a home at thanksgiving.
I enjoyed this. Although it is a short story it is told really well and both characters come to life in the story in a way which evokes memories and feelings about needing to get home especially after long travels. Charlie comes across as bereft and a little lonely while Faris comes across as being very self-sufficient and secure because he knows where home is for him. Both Lebanon and the US are home to him, although his ties to the US are stronger. Charlie comes across as lost. Neither the US nor Lebanon are home for him and his character comes across as adrift.
And then the two men meet.
I really enjoyed this short story and I wanted to know more and to see if the two men would eventually become home for each other. I liked it because of the way it evokes the need that each of us has for home and belonging, and because it has a hopeful ending which is just right for a short story.
Copy provided by Nine Star Press via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
November 8, 2018
This is a short romance about home and family and finding your people, set around Thanksgiving, starring a grouchy and guarded Lebanese-American Bostonian and an adorably unguarded New England bro who end up sharing an airport hotel room. It's sweet and sexy and heartwarming.
November 15, 2018
Thank you Ms Wheeler for this engaging short tale of love found when it is least expect it.
November 7, 2018
This is a sweet, long-ish short story. Faris, stranded en route from Lebanon to Boston on Thanksgiving weekend, encounters Charlie, an exuberant and equally stranded American on his way home from a disappointing trip to seek his grandparents' history. Shenanigans ensue, including the predictable hotel-room-sharing, a fade-to-black encounter, and some high quality avoidant behaviour on Faris' part. Fate throws them into each other's paths again at the American end of the journey...
I'm grateful to Nine Star Press for giving me the chance to read this in ARC from NetGalley, and have high hopes for their other books! This one I must say I've rounded up to 3 from a 2.5 - I rounded up, because my problems with it are all, essentially, that it felt like it ought to be a book or at least a novella, and that book or novella could be a very good one.
The way I see it, short stories have to walk a fine line: they need to invoke a surplus of meaning, enough to hint at a whole world and complex characters. But they also need to work very tightly to a single plot line, and, for romance, that can't be the same complete arc that a comparable novel would go through from meet cute to HEA via several key problems. This story raises a bunch of character threads which are complex and interesting and just not pursued; and it finishes a little too soon, cutting off the emotional resolution on the strongest of them.
I'm grateful to Nine Star Press for giving me the chance to read this in ARC from NetGalley, and have high hopes for their other books! This one I must say I've rounded up to 3 from a 2.5 - I rounded up, because my problems with it are all, essentially, that it felt like it ought to be a book or at least a novella, and that book or novella could be a very good one.
The way I see it, short stories have to walk a fine line: they need to invoke a surplus of meaning, enough to hint at a whole world and complex characters. But they also need to work very tightly to a single plot line, and, for romance, that can't be the same complete arc that a comparable novel would go through from meet cute to HEA via several key problems. This story raises a bunch of character threads which are complex and interesting and just not pursued; and it finishes a little too soon, cutting off the emotional resolution on the strongest of them.
November 15, 2018
This book was provided by the author via IndiGo Marketing & Design in exchange for an honest review.
Checked Baggage is a quick novella about two men stranded at the airport. Faris and Charlie share a hotel room and a bed, but when Charlie offers Faris his number, he's turned down. The men are headed to two different destinations, so it's too late for Faris to get a second chance.
A sweet little Thanksgiving romp, that, in the end, turns out to be more about family, trust, and reaching out to make a connection. Maybe even a bit of serendipity.
4/5
Checked Baggage is a quick novella about two men stranded at the airport. Faris and Charlie share a hotel room and a bed, but when Charlie offers Faris his number, he's turned down. The men are headed to two different destinations, so it's too late for Faris to get a second chance.
A sweet little Thanksgiving romp, that, in the end, turns out to be more about family, trust, and reaching out to make a connection. Maybe even a bit of serendipity.
4/5
April 7, 2019
Sweet, contemporary m/m romance novella with a surprising depth of things to say about family and family history. I particularly liked the author's choice to write a Thanksgiving-based novella about a Lebanese Arab diaspora family, and the complexities of immigrant life. And it's very well-written, too.
November 27, 2018
A quick, sweet Thanksgiving story. I read it in bed while stuffed full of good food, and it was the perfect end to a lovely holiday. I highly recommend that as the best way to read this delightful story!
I received a digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.
I received a digital ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.
November 7, 2018
Okay well this was short and sweet and perfect!
Faris was in Lebanon attending his grandmothers funeral and taking care of some family business. When he gets to the airport for his flight home for Thanksgiving, he finds all the flights through Europe have been canceled. While waiting in line for a new series of connections he runs into Charlie.
Charlie’s trying to find a connection to his family since he’s only got his mother left. He was hoping to find living relatives in Lebanon but only found solitude.
When they both have the evening to kill before their flights the next day they decide to find a hotel room. Of course there’s only one left in the city with one bed...
In the small space, Charlie gets Faris to open up and talk about his life and his family and friends. When they start to feel a connection, Charlie makes a move.
The sex is off-page, but I it doesn't deter at all from the sweetness of the story. I found myself truly invested in both Faris and Charlie's happiness and was sad when the book ended so quickly. There was so much awesomeness that took place in those few pages and so much character reveal. Amazing writing. I want more!
*Arc provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
Faris was in Lebanon attending his grandmothers funeral and taking care of some family business. When he gets to the airport for his flight home for Thanksgiving, he finds all the flights through Europe have been canceled. While waiting in line for a new series of connections he runs into Charlie.
Charlie’s trying to find a connection to his family since he’s only got his mother left. He was hoping to find living relatives in Lebanon but only found solitude.
When they both have the evening to kill before their flights the next day they decide to find a hotel room. Of course there’s only one left in the city with one bed...
In the small space, Charlie gets Faris to open up and talk about his life and his family and friends. When they start to feel a connection, Charlie makes a move.
The sex is off-page, but I it doesn't deter at all from the sweetness of the story. I found myself truly invested in both Faris and Charlie's happiness and was sad when the book ended so quickly. There was so much awesomeness that took place in those few pages and so much character reveal. Amazing writing. I want more!
*Arc provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
November 15, 2018
Faris and Charlie are strangers who meet in an airport because 😱
gasp
😱 each of their respective flights to go home for the holidays have been canceled.
Guess what happens next... 😱 gasp 😱 ALL of the hotel rooms are booked except one. And 😱 OH! NO! 😱 there's only 😱 ONE BED . 😱 Whatever shall they do? I guess you'll have to read to find out how it all ends. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Seriously, though. Please give me a longer story. I want all the cliche holiday fluff. How did the holidays go? Do they travel back to where they first met in the future? Do they take yearly trips to Aley? I need to know these things, dude.
Checked Baggage is too short. 😫😔💕📚
*Thank you Netgalley, for giving me an arc.*
Guess what happens next... 😱 gasp 😱 ALL of the hotel rooms are booked except one. And 😱 OH! NO! 😱 there's only 😱 ONE BED . 😱 Whatever shall they do? I guess you'll have to read to find out how it all ends. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Seriously, though. Please give me a longer story. I want all the cliche holiday fluff. How did the holidays go? Do they travel back to where they first met in the future? Do they take yearly trips to Aley? I need to know these things, dude.
Checked Baggage is too short. 😫😔💕📚
*Thank you Netgalley, for giving me an arc.*
October 28, 2018
Such a sweet, fun story. Easy to read, set in a culture I enjoyed learning more about. Fun platonic bed-sharing trope, and their chemistry and easy way with each other felt very alive on the page. Definitely worth it for some warm fuzzies from a quick read.
Faris' characterization and decision-making didn't always make sense, since the story was too short to really show us his personality, we had to be told that he wasn't acting the way he usually does, which is hard to pull off in a short story.
NOTE: I was given a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Faris' characterization and decision-making didn't always make sense, since the story was too short to really show us his personality, we had to be told that he wasn't acting the way he usually does, which is hard to pull off in a short story.
NOTE: I was given a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 14, 2018
* 3.5/5 *
Classique mais efficace, cette histoire de rencontre dans un aéroport fait bien le job. Les personnages sont charmants, mais j'aurais aimé savoir comment Charlie perçoit les choses, puisque la nouvelle, bien qu'écrite à la 3ème personne, est entièrement focalisée sur le POV de Faris. Une histoire sympa, avec un contexte original (le Liban comme racines communes, d'ailleurs, en parlant de racines, l'emblème du Liban est un cèdre ^^) qui me laisse toutefois sur ma faim, parce que j'aimerais bien savoir ce qu'il va advenir de ce "couple"là ...
Classique mais efficace, cette histoire de rencontre dans un aéroport fait bien le job. Les personnages sont charmants, mais j'aurais aimé savoir comment Charlie perçoit les choses, puisque la nouvelle, bien qu'écrite à la 3ème personne, est entièrement focalisée sur le POV de Faris. Une histoire sympa, avec un contexte original (le Liban comme racines communes, d'ailleurs, en parlant de racines, l'emblème du Liban est un cèdre ^^) qui me laisse toutefois sur ma faim, parce que j'aimerais bien savoir ce qu'il va advenir de ce "couple"là ...
November 25, 2018
First let me say I love this cover! Second, I loved these two guys!! They are adorable! The instant attraction is palpable and I loved reading this story. I wish it was a bit longer that’s all!! But the book was very good and I didn’t want to put it down! Yes Faris was an a$$ for not speaking up and giving Charlie his number grrrr….lol….in the end though hopefully it all works out for these two!!
Thank you for this cute story of two men, looking for love and possibly finding it! Hoping there is more more more!!!
Thank you for this cute story of two men, looking for love and possibly finding it! Hoping there is more more more!!!
January 2, 2019
A really adorable short story. It's set at Thanksgiving but can be read at any time.
Cancelled planes, one hotel room, one bed. The story is a trope in itself but the delivery of it is lovely with characters who aren't perfect but are perfectly endearing.
Fade to black as suits the story length, with a HFN ending. I'd have happily read a novel (or at least a novella) length story about these two.
Cancelled planes, one hotel room, one bed. The story is a trope in itself but the delivery of it is lovely with characters who aren't perfect but are perfectly endearing.
Fade to black as suits the story length, with a HFN ending. I'd have happily read a novel (or at least a novella) length story about these two.
October 31, 2018
Romance generally isn't my jam, but that being said, this is a cute and pretty realistic story about two American guys running into each other in an airport in Lebanon as they try to get back home. The characterization, especially their conflicted feelings about their ancestral home, is interesting and natural.
It's also a really nice Thanksgiving story without being ABOUT Thanksgiving!
It's also a really nice Thanksgiving story without being ABOUT Thanksgiving!
January 21, 2019
Faris is going home to take care of his grandmother's estate, but this extended family makes the trip hard on him. Charlie is trying to connect with a part of himself that he has never really got to know.
This was a good quick read that shows two guys from very different backgrounds finding common ground in a short amount of time and finding a connection.
This was a good quick read that shows two guys from very different backgrounds finding common ground in a short amount of time and finding a connection.
November 7, 2018
Checked Baggage was a quick fun holiday read of how the crazy bustle of the holidays can lead to the most unexpected and wonderful meetings! I Loved every second of this story can't wait for more holiday fun from Nine Star Press!!
November 22, 2018
TOO CUTE.
(I was given an e-ARC by the author)
(I was given an e-ARC by the author)
November 2, 2021
Need approximately 200 more pages.
January 13, 2022
Great short story. This has been on my TBR for three years. I love the cover. Just never picked it up to read. Until now. And yes, I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner. When I think about Beirut and Lebanon, I think of warzones. I never think of the families that live there and the villages they live in. I love that this story showed me a different perspective. Faris and Charlie were likable and the story was enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews