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His Gift
2025: This edition is now available from Jocular Press.
Steven Macklin wakes up in a ditch one morning in foul, wet weather with no idea where he is or how he came to be there. Seriously injured, he struggles across bleak heathland to find shelter. The only house he finds is weather-beaten and deserted, although he's too sensible a guy to fall for the cliche of a haunted mansion.
Isn't he?
When he collapses and is taken in by the handsome Eliot, Steven finds himself in a very disturbing situation -- and in the bed of this strange, possessive man.
Steven Macklin wakes up in a ditch one morning in foul, wet weather with no idea where he is or how he came to be there. Seriously injured, he struggles across bleak heathland to find shelter. The only house he finds is weather-beaten and deserted, although he's too sensible a guy to fall for the cliche of a haunted mansion.
Isn't he?
When he collapses and is taken in by the handsome Eliot, Steven finds himself in a very disturbing situation -- and in the bed of this strange, possessive man.
91 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2008
5 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Clare London
148 books434 followersClare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with her other day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with award-winning novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters.
Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.
All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!
Clare also writes as Stella Shaw and launched a new series of rent boy romances in 2021.
Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.
All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!
Clare also writes as Stella Shaw and launched a new series of rent boy romances in 2021.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 3, 2018
Wow - the Gothic feel of this very short novella blew me away. Steven awakens to find himself in severe pain, lying in a ditch in the pouring rain, and he manages to drag himself to the nearest house where a gorgeous man, Eliot, welcomes him in. Steven finds himself in Eliot's big bed almost out of time and space, utterly enthralled by their sizzling sexual chemistry. Steven can't remember his past, and Eliot says little about his life, other than he wished for someone like Steven and he appeared, his gift.
I love, love, love the writing here. London creates this slowly growing sense of unease, potential terror and mystery. Something is Not Right here ... but what? The ending felt abrupt to me, mostly because I was enjoying all the glorious gothic elements, but I loved the swerve, the twist, the upending of what we assumed reality is/was, and give this little gem 4.5 stars.
I love, love, love the writing here. London creates this slowly growing sense of unease, potential terror and mystery. Something is Not Right here ... but what? The ending felt abrupt to me, mostly because I was enjoying all the glorious gothic elements, but I loved the swerve, the twist, the upending of what we assumed reality is/was, and give this little gem 4.5 stars.
September 19, 2010
Very good short m/m romance about a guy who wakes up injured in a rainy ditch, with no memory of how he got there. He manages to make it to an old house, where he meets a handsome, mysterious man and his life takes on a dream-like quality.
April 26, 2009
My Rating: 3.5 of 5
The story is told in first-person prospective, which can sometimes be awkward, but I think it's well-done here because it pulls the reader into the narrator's head - we experience his pain, his confusion; we question what he questions, we are drawn into the mystery and strangeness just as he is. I thought the twist at the end was nicely done and not at all the one I was expecting. Overall, it's well-written and a little disorienting - there is a wonderful buildup of suspense and mystery to the story that I quite enjoyed.
http://iheartpaperbacks.wordpress.com
The story is told in first-person prospective, which can sometimes be awkward, but I think it's well-done here because it pulls the reader into the narrator's head - we experience his pain, his confusion; we question what he questions, we are drawn into the mystery and strangeness just as he is. I thought the twist at the end was nicely done and not at all the one I was expecting. Overall, it's well-written and a little disorienting - there is a wonderful buildup of suspense and mystery to the story that I quite enjoyed.
http://iheartpaperbacks.wordpress.com
August 24, 2017
Yep...5 stars for a 50 page read....That is how much I loved this book....I won it in a fb comp and read it straight away...I love these kinds of books...Steven and Eliot pure hotness...I won't spoil the end but you certainly won't see it coming....x
April 11, 2010
A clever gothic mystery that would have been great had I believed that the couple actually liked each other. I got that they wanted to sleep together but that was the end of the connection for me.
Really great flip at the end there. Not hard to see coming, but well played.
Really great flip at the end there. Not hard to see coming, but well played.
Read
May 12, 2009Steven awakes to a nightmare: he is alone, under the rain, amid of nothing. He is injured, scared and without a clear memory of who he is or why he is there. He knows his name, he has some flashback of his life, but still he seems to have like a cloud in his mind. He walks in the night to find a shelter, and he stumbles across an old house, apparently abandoned. But when he knocks at the door, it opens to enter him to a young handsome guy, Eliot.
Eliot is beautiful, but even more strange than his home. He never speaks clearly and he has the power to bind Steven to him: he says that he asks for Steven to come, and that Steven is his gift. Steven realizes that he is living in a parallel reality, but he seems unable to resist to Eliot sexual power; Eliot brings so much pleasure to Steven, a pleasure he never felt before.
But even if the sex is unbelievable, and the days are spent only making love, Steven can't leave his life behind. He needs to know who is Eliot, and why he is there.
The story is short, less than 50 pages, but really "haunting". Actually it's quite in theme for an Halloween's Eve. It's centered on Steven, of Eliot we know very little, a piece of memory here and there. Even if short, the plot is quite good, with a really well developed turn of the events just at the end.
I can't say much on the story, since I would risk to give up it, but let me say that I didn't expect that end, and that I was leading to believe something total different; I started to realize the things at the same time as Steven did, and so I was surprise like him in finding the true.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001JIWF64/?...
Eliot is beautiful, but even more strange than his home. He never speaks clearly and he has the power to bind Steven to him: he says that he asks for Steven to come, and that Steven is his gift. Steven realizes that he is living in a parallel reality, but he seems unable to resist to Eliot sexual power; Eliot brings so much pleasure to Steven, a pleasure he never felt before.
But even if the sex is unbelievable, and the days are spent only making love, Steven can't leave his life behind. He needs to know who is Eliot, and why he is there.
The story is short, less than 50 pages, but really "haunting". Actually it's quite in theme for an Halloween's Eve. It's centered on Steven, of Eliot we know very little, a piece of memory here and there. Even if short, the plot is quite good, with a really well developed turn of the events just at the end.
I can't say much on the story, since I would risk to give up it, but let me say that I didn't expect that end, and that I was leading to believe something total different; I started to realize the things at the same time as Steven did, and so I was surprise like him in finding the true.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001JIWF64/?...
January 9, 2011
Reviewed for Hearts On Fire Reviews
Oh my, epic twist! I loved that. Steven, so lucky to find this mansion just in the middle of nowhere after a bad accident. He’s so weak and in so much pain, miserable and nearly at the end of his rope, and when he gets to the door of the house he is still afraid somehow to go in. Does he believe in haunted houses? Absolutely not. And yet…
When Steven meets Eliot, the actual epitome of sex on two legs, he is immediately attracted, a little frightened and a lot confused. Why can’t he remember anything? Why does Eliot keep just suddenly showing up in places? Why does Eliot KEEP saying this is what he wished for? Poor Steven, he may be in for more than he thought.
Excellent storytelling, a bit creepy yet very sexy. Wish it had been longer!
Oh my, epic twist! I loved that. Steven, so lucky to find this mansion just in the middle of nowhere after a bad accident. He’s so weak and in so much pain, miserable and nearly at the end of his rope, and when he gets to the door of the house he is still afraid somehow to go in. Does he believe in haunted houses? Absolutely not. And yet…
When Steven meets Eliot, the actual epitome of sex on two legs, he is immediately attracted, a little frightened and a lot confused. Why can’t he remember anything? Why does Eliot keep just suddenly showing up in places? Why does Eliot KEEP saying this is what he wished for? Poor Steven, he may be in for more than he thought.
Excellent storytelling, a bit creepy yet very sexy. Wish it had been longer!
October 29, 2016
Genuinely creepy story.
Can't say more without spoilers.
Can't say more without spoilers.
October 20, 2025
A SHORT HAUNTING MYSTERIOUS TALE FULL OF STEAM!💕
“True devotion is surely worth waiting for”
I was intrigued by the blurb as I like to break away from my contemporary romance reads to a nice mystery with a haunting twist!
It starts off with a rainy setting, a young man injured in a ditch trying to drag his injured body towards a clearing, looking for help and shelter…
Eerie and gothic which keeps you as reader entranced hoping he finds the help he needs but instead finds an abandoned old derelict house or so it seems… until he sees a shadow move as he opens the door…
“You have been delayed, but now you’ve come. You are my gift. I asked for you.”
“I’m Eliot and you’re here now.”
This is the short, eerie and mysterious erotic story of Steven and Eliot who finds each other in the most beautiful and bizarre way with a haunting twist!
Thank you Clare London for the opportunity to read and review this story.
“True devotion is surely worth waiting for”
I was intrigued by the blurb as I like to break away from my contemporary romance reads to a nice mystery with a haunting twist!
It starts off with a rainy setting, a young man injured in a ditch trying to drag his injured body towards a clearing, looking for help and shelter…
Eerie and gothic which keeps you as reader entranced hoping he finds the help he needs but instead finds an abandoned old derelict house or so it seems… until he sees a shadow move as he opens the door…
“You have been delayed, but now you’ve come. You are my gift. I asked for you.”
“I’m Eliot and you’re here now.”
This is the short, eerie and mysterious erotic story of Steven and Eliot who finds each other in the most beautiful and bizarre way with a haunting twist!
Thank you Clare London for the opportunity to read and review this story.
October 21, 2025
His Gift is part of the After Midnight series of standalone stories with a dark side andmaybe a monster or two thrown in. Human monsters in the main that is but not in all cases. In the case of His Gift this is uncertain but it concerns Steven, an injured young man who is first met making his way across a rural landscape looking for help. He has no idea how he got hurt and where he is. He eventually comes across a spooky house where he is admitted inside and meets Eliot, another young man who helps him while at the same time saying Steven is the gift he asked for.
It is all very odd and it feels like Steven is a prisoner or some kind of willing sex slave. This is far from the truth and, when Steven is well enough, he leaves and leaves to find out what happened to him. This he does and it's not what he expected. There is a happy ending of sorts for the two men but it left me oddly cold.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
It is all very odd and it feels like Steven is a prisoner or some kind of willing sex slave. This is far from the truth and, when Steven is well enough, he leaves and leaves to find out what happened to him. This he does and it's not what he expected. There is a happy ending of sorts for the two men but it left me oddly cold.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 28, 2025
A gothic, time out of time story, involving Steven who wakes up, injured and alone, and finds his way to the mansion Eliot lives in. Eliot has asked for a gift, and he has somehow been given Steven, who he falls in love with and Steven falls for him, but is always questioning where they are and why. He wants to know how the time passes as he feels the days pass together. But Eliot says there is only now. It is a lonely life for Steven, having only Eliot and their time together. He rebels against it but can't really do anything but enjoy his time with Eliot. The ending and explanation is quite interesting and works strangely well.
I received an advance copy from the author and this is my honest review of this story.
I received an advance copy from the author and this is my honest review of this story.
October 24, 2025
Oh my gosh, I couldn’t stop with this one, and wondering what was going on! We follow Steven as he goes from injured and stranded, to Eliot who’s there to take care of him. The writing is as delicious as you’d expect from Clare London, giving you enough detail to know what is happening, and leaving you to make up yourself. The story kept me wondering as I went along as to what was happening, and even though the questions felt like they were asked again and again, it was necessary to keep you turning the page. A great story and story, closing it with more questions was a great way to go.
October 20, 2025
A wonderful contemporary novella with a Gothic feel as, after an accident, Steve finds shelter in a mysterious house with Eliot, an alluring stranger. But despite their intense connection, is James a prisoner, trapped in a twilight world with a ghost, unable to return to his normal life?
Without giving away any spoilers, the denouement answers James questions, leading to an atmospheric and bitter-sweet conclusion. A truly haunting tale.
Without giving away any spoilers, the denouement answers James questions, leading to an atmospheric and bitter-sweet conclusion. A truly haunting tale.
October 28, 2025
Steven finds himself in a ditch, in the pouring rain and in pain.
He drags himself to a seemingly abandoned house where Eliot, a dazzling, handsome stranger invites him in.
What follows almost seems as though a dream.
They have amazing chemistry but something isn't quite right and the unease builds throughout.
Steven doesn't seem to remember anything from before and Eliot isn't very forthcoming about himself.
The mystery continues to build until it's twisted ending.
He drags himself to a seemingly abandoned house where Eliot, a dazzling, handsome stranger invites him in.
What follows almost seems as though a dream.
They have amazing chemistry but something isn't quite right and the unease builds throughout.
Steven doesn't seem to remember anything from before and Eliot isn't very forthcoming about himself.
The mystery continues to build until it's twisted ending.
October 1, 2021
3.5 stars, interesting imagery, good read.
August 1, 2012
It doesn't matter if something is real or not; it's our perception of a situation which determines how we experience it. In 'His Gift' by Clare London, Steve Macklin's reality is challenged when he finds himself in what feels like a waking dream to him. Things aren't quite right but he can't understand why. As Steve grapples with this confusion, he discovers just how elusive reality can actually be.
Steve is confused for most of the story. When in a foreign situation, it takes a while to adjust and figure things out. Especially confusing is Eliot's obvious grasp on the situation, his ease in slipping right into the swing of things, but, after all, Eliot knows the whole story while all Steve has to go by are foggy memories and obscure clues. Relieved that he had someone who appreciated him for himself and sad for the way he came about it, Steve's mind would not remain idle. He's determined to make sense of what is happening and the only way he can do that is to go back to the ditch from whence he came.
Eliot is a fascinating character. He's beautiful, smart, gifted, and more than a little spooky. He alludes to having powers that frighten other people and it's what's caused his isolation. He's thrilled when Steve arrives at this front door; now he has someone to touch and talk to, and be with. He quickly adjusts to Steve being there and takes full advantage of his company. After all, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Eliot is in awe of Steve and amazed that he actually answered his call. 'You came.” were his first words to Steve. At first, he seemed overly possessive, but when he agreed to let Steve go in order to find answers to the questions that tortured him, I changed my mind about him. Eliot knew that Steve wouldn't stay unless he wanted to, even though he was bound to Eliot.
This is a dark, gothic tale full of suspense and intrigue. Our minds become entangled with Steve's as he battles his way through the fog. Since it's written in first person, we're not able to figure things out until he does, which, in itself, plays tricks on our perception of occurrences within the story. Like so many of Clare's stories, it's very well written and, overall, is deliciously different. It kept me on my toes, as I hung on to each clue and looked for more. And, along with all of the mystery and suspense, it's a beautiful, sensual love story. Even though it seems one-sided at times, I think both young men benefited from the relationship, and, even though it was an unusual ending, I'd like to believe that they are on the road to happiness. Thanks, Clare, this story will give me chills for a long time.
NOTE: This book was provided by JMS Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
Steve is confused for most of the story. When in a foreign situation, it takes a while to adjust and figure things out. Especially confusing is Eliot's obvious grasp on the situation, his ease in slipping right into the swing of things, but, after all, Eliot knows the whole story while all Steve has to go by are foggy memories and obscure clues. Relieved that he had someone who appreciated him for himself and sad for the way he came about it, Steve's mind would not remain idle. He's determined to make sense of what is happening and the only way he can do that is to go back to the ditch from whence he came.
Eliot is a fascinating character. He's beautiful, smart, gifted, and more than a little spooky. He alludes to having powers that frighten other people and it's what's caused his isolation. He's thrilled when Steve arrives at this front door; now he has someone to touch and talk to, and be with. He quickly adjusts to Steve being there and takes full advantage of his company. After all, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Eliot is in awe of Steve and amazed that he actually answered his call. 'You came.” were his first words to Steve. At first, he seemed overly possessive, but when he agreed to let Steve go in order to find answers to the questions that tortured him, I changed my mind about him. Eliot knew that Steve wouldn't stay unless he wanted to, even though he was bound to Eliot.
This is a dark, gothic tale full of suspense and intrigue. Our minds become entangled with Steve's as he battles his way through the fog. Since it's written in first person, we're not able to figure things out until he does, which, in itself, plays tricks on our perception of occurrences within the story. Like so many of Clare's stories, it's very well written and, overall, is deliciously different. It kept me on my toes, as I hung on to each clue and looked for more. And, along with all of the mystery and suspense, it's a beautiful, sensual love story. Even though it seems one-sided at times, I think both young men benefited from the relationship, and, even though it was an unusual ending, I'd like to believe that they are on the road to happiness. Thanks, Clare, this story will give me chills for a long time.
NOTE: This book was provided by JMS Books for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.
August 13, 2012
I did enjoy this short book by Clare London.
It has lots of sex and lots of creepiness - Clare gets the setting just right. The main character, Steven Macklin, is a nice guy in a bewildering setting after waking up in a ditch in the middle of nowhere and walking to a nearby house for help. Not an original start, we've all seen movies like this, but Clare writes it nicely in my opinion, and I kept reading avidly to find out what was going on.
A nice ending tied it all up too.
It has lots of sex and lots of creepiness - Clare gets the setting just right. The main character, Steven Macklin, is a nice guy in a bewildering setting after waking up in a ditch in the middle of nowhere and walking to a nearby house for help. Not an original start, we've all seen movies like this, but Clare writes it nicely in my opinion, and I kept reading avidly to find out what was going on.
A nice ending tied it all up too.
July 23, 2015
Steven finds himself in Eliot's house. He knows they have sex but is kind of fuzzy on the other details. The story tells us they talk and have fun sometimes, but that is definitely an afterthought. Eliot tells Steve that Steve is his gift, that he wished for him and that is all there is to it. I like Clare London's writing style, and I've enjoyed her paranormal stories. This one was OK. I think it is a nice story, but I didn't feel the draw of Eliot so much, I found him pushy and demanding.
September 18, 2011
What a haunting tale! And the twist at the end! Not what I was expecting, at all. I was so surprised. And actually all teary-eyed when it was revealed what actually happened. Though the sex was rather dub-con-ish, especially at first, so people who have problem with that sort of stuff should be warned.
October 16, 2016
A very sexy and intriguing read and wonderful addition to my Halloween/paranormal shelf. I don't know as it could have been even better with length so much as I would have enjoyed knowing a little more of Eliot's past but as a whole, His Gift is a very entertaining short story full to the brim with all kinds of sexy.
October 2, 2011
Strange. Not quite sure how I feel about this story. Not much explained in the book other than sex between the two characters. Elliot wasn't explained AT ALL. Neat twist at the end though.
February 21, 2013
Interesting!
October 3, 2009
Hauntingly erotic.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews