All Through the House

Glasgow Lads #4.6

by Avery Cockburn

For two years at university, Brodie Campbell and Duncan Harris were inseparable. Then Brodie’s summer internship abroad turned into a six-month job on the other side of the continent.

Time and distance have tested Duncan and Brodie’s steadfast love. Now, with Brodie back in Glasgow, they’re in for a surprise reunion, thanks to a “match-mending” friend and a Christmas charity curling event. Will their on-ice rivalry lead to holiday heartache, or will they win each other back better than ever?

The long-awaited “happier ever after” story for the first (and youngest) Glasgow Lads couple is here!

All Through the House includes characters from the Glasgow Lads series (and features the heroes of Play On) as well as its spinoff series, Glasgow Lads on Ice. It can also be read as a stand-alone fun ’n’ sexy holiday treat.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Holiday, Sports, Contemporary, LGBT, Christmas

70 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 7, 2021

About the author

Avery Cockburn (rhymes with Savory Slow Churn) lives in the great State of Maryland with one infinitely patient man and two infinitely impatient cats.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

An adorably sweet little morsel!
I've always enjoyed my time with the lads and despite being partial to the footie side of Glasgow, I found this novella delightful. We're on ice, not turf, but that's okay. Seeing this peek into the curling event was refreshing and fun.
I love the guys.
I love the uniqueness of the G lads.
I love the writing.
AND...I love Devon's parents.

If you know and love the Glasgow Lads, this tender addition should not be missed!

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was fun and sweet, the kind of holiday story I love because it just takes place around the holidays without being holiday-centered, if you get what I mean.

I loved seeing Duncan and Brodie a couple of years down the road, even more than I liked the story where they got together. Even though—or maybe because—this one is shorter, it felt more cohesive, more focused than Play On. Maybe it was just the right story at the right time for me, but whatever the reason, I had a lot of fun reading this. It struck the perfect balance, making me laugh out loud and “aww” at sweet moments that could’ve been sappy under other circumstances.
Brodie and Duncan are still very young, and still making big mistakes, but the way they handled the consequences felt both realistic for their age and incredibly mature. I was also pleasantly surprised by Brodie putting Jon in his place about his “meddling.” In John’s case, it was nowhere near the worst I’ve seen in this genre, but it was still a nice change to see an MC addressing the issue for once. Well done, Brodie.

Another winner in the Glasgow Lads series, it made me even more eager for the next book.

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Duncan and Brodie are back again in this short story. I spent the first half trying to remember who was who, lol, and I wish there'd been some sort of hint about their relationship woes in the previous books to prepare for this one, since this brought us into it at the end. But even without that, I still really felt the awkwardness of their reunion and enjoyed seeing them work out their issues in a mature way. And of course, it was fun to see the other lads too.

[Kaje Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and sweet look at Brodie and Duncan, a bit further down the road from Play On. Brodie has been away on a summer internship helping LGBTQ folks abroad that turned into a six-month stint. And somewhere in there, he and Duncan stopped feeling comfortable and easy with each other. But Brodie's home now, and determined to make things right. Soon.

Both young men get pulled into a charity curling match, on opposing teams. The event is the very wrong place for their first meeting after six months apart. There's no time to talk, too much booze, competitive spirits, crowds all around them. They need to talk, but making it happen-- and figuring out what to say, won't be easy. The chill of the ice is only rivaled by the chill that somehow snuck into their relationship, in all those months apart.

This was cute, warm at the end, and a nice look at favorite characters with its usual local flavor. For fans of the series who have read the guys' first book (and if you read the Lads on Ice, you'll recognize characters from that too.)

[Rosa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... not bad but nothing earth shattering... I felt the conflict a bit forced and didn't connect with the characters at the same level I did in their book. Still, a fast and entertaining read.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sweet short story following the characters from the first novella in this series as they work through a bit of a rough patch. The concept was sweet enough, and I liked the characters, but there was WAY too much detail and focus on curling, and I could not care less. I actually haven't much loved Cockburn's curling-focused spin-off series, and I was a little confused/annoyed by the cross-over here. It's been a while since I've read any of her books as she tends to have a longer gap between releases (no shade! it's just hard to remember characters/details sometimes when there's a longer wait) and I found the sheer amount of characters that made an appearance in what was a relatively short novella to be a little distracting. I knew I was supposed to remember/care about many of them, and aside from John/Fergus, I mostly... didn't, especially the random curlers. I wanted there to be a bit more focus on the relationship, and a bit less focus on this random curling tournament that was the setting for their reunion.

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miraculously, they'd grown together instead of growing apart

Ah, young love 💓

It's lovely short story about how Duncan and Brodie (the youngest main characters from Cockburn's Glasgow Lads series) have matured up after spending times apart. They might have an awkward reunion first, both thinking that their last conversation wasn't that good, but they talked about it, and I was SO happy for them. It's always good when the characters clear the air of misunderstanding.

By the way, Duncan's parents are the GEMS!!

[Didi]

A sweet holiday story! It’s great to visit with Brodie and Duncan again and saw how much both young men had grown. This novella also really mashed Glasgow Lads and Glasgow Lads on Ice series together nicely (well done on the event-organizing, Garen! 😉) and it’s such a joy for my favorite lads (on both series) were friends 😍. The icing of the cake in my book were Duncan’s parents - the lads were lucky to have them on their side unquestionably.

[Marthea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3+
Brodie i Duncan zaczęli całą serię, to jak widać wypadało, żeby i ją skończyli 💙 Słodka, okołoświąteczna połówka, z curlingiem w roli głównej 😁

[James Quentin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, Avery, please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeease get some Scottish beta readers. Usually, your books are so good at only dropping the occasional clangers. But this was full of Americanisms. "Grad school" doesn't exist in the UK it's just "doing post-grad" or "staying on [at uni] to do post-grad" and Mr Rogers was never big in the UK, maybe because Duncan spent time in the States he'd know who it was, but 99.9% of British people would go "who?" if you made a passing reference to him. There were a couple of other really bad ones too. Using the full name of the University of Loughborough so Americans could go look it up and see where it was with minimal effort was also a bit annoying.

C'mon, try harder.

Other than that, it was enjoyable. I liked Garen, Luca, Heather, John and Fergus all turning up (thank God no Evan or Ben - yeuch). No real laugh out loud moments or anything too remarkable, but a solid Christmas novella.

[Raelene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so I’m going to start with saying that I have not read Play On (or any books from the Glasgow Lads series, to be honest), so I was not familiar with Brodie and Duncan going into this story. I do think it would have helped to have read their story, but I still very quickly adored them both.

I have read the two books in the Glasgow Lads On Ice series, because I am a big curling fan. I actually just finished rereading Must Love Christmas last night, so when Avery Cockburn posted about this story on her Instagram, I couldn’t pick it up fast enough. I really enjoyed reading about the charity curling bonspiel in that book, and I love Garen as a character, so it was wonderful to read more about him and see more of the event.

Because I am a curling fan, of course I really liked that aspect of this story. But the romance throughout the book was so cute, and even when it got hot, it was still sweet as well.

I’m super glad I read this, especially right after Must Love Christmas! It was nice to meet new characters while also reading about ones I’m familiar with. I definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of Avery Cockburn’s other books.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short and silly and sexy and sweet. It's always nice to spend time with these boys. :)

[Amy Aislin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, sweet, and cute. Read it in under 2 hours! It was exactly the fluff and sweetness I needed.

[Robert W. Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute separation angst story

The boys are back after being separated. There is some hurt feelings from that separation, but our boys work it out thanks to friends and family. Cute Christmas short.

[Elsa Bravante · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los lads tan maravillosos como siempre, pero la parte dedicada al deporte ese que no me acuerdo ni del nombre... Mi m'aximo respeto a quie le guste, pero a mí no me puede parecer más aburrido, sorry.

[Barb ~rede-2-read~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this visit with Duncan and Brodie after seeing their romance in book one, Play On. However, I wish I hadn't let so much time go by as I had to re-familiarize myself with the characters. This one was a great intro to the sport of curling along with a revisit with the characters and a chance to be present for their reunion after their six month separation.

One thing of note: do not read the last chapter in public or while drinking something because it is a total hoot with an explosive LOL moment involving two guys, a showroom bed, and a set of parents.

I may have to go back and reread this whole series. Nothing grabs me faster than a Scottish accent. :D

[Leslie Zak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Misunderstanding and young love

Our MCs have a two year relationship then a six month separation with some hard feelings. The road back starts at a charity curling competition. I know that curling is big in Canada and Scotland but as an American I couldn't get into it, in fact I thought is was very boring. It lessened my enjoyment of the book but I really like this author and have really liked other books. If you don't mind curling and enjoy sweet gay romances this is your book.

[Jennifer]

Felt like reading a curling instructional slash minute-by-minute report of the day. (With a couple of distracting explanatory notes about accents… my pet peeve as a person living in Scotland!) Also takes the route of many novellas and cuts straight to telling rather than showing - there is no time for tension to build or the story to breathe.

[Ken Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Curling?

Christmas story short with the MCs reconnecting at a charity curling event. The final chapter is precious, especially as I have no understanding of stones sliding down ice.

[gimmethosebooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahhhhhh I loved it

[P3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Christmas novella

This story was very short and taught me more about Curling 🥌 that I wanted to know in a romance novella. I wish there was more romance and less Curling.

[Coral Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick holiday short to catch up with .Duncan and Brodie. There has been a misunderstanding and some hurt feelings they need to sort out.

[Pjm12 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always happy to read about these Scottish lads!

Hope there's more.

xmas read 2021 #10

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glasgow Lads have a holiday together.

[Heidi Dover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and cute short story and insight into past characters. Slightly drama for drama's sake with their reunion but enjoyable overall.

[Pontiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Brodie and Duncan reunite, it’s on the curling sheets with their teams and a charity competition.

They’re both angry, one with being left behind without a thought, the other with fearing they’re growing up and apart.

Some interesting short talks keep things fuelled, but end with an agreement to really talk. That’s where they work out their needs and feelings.

A fun read with a curling focus and a romantic ending. Nice short story.

KU

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75 stars
I've missed these boys!!!

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet little story of Brodie and Duncan reunited after internships had them doing the long distance thing. Loved the curling backdrop of this one. It was fun and I'll always cheer for these two.

[Dekaydreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another short, sweet, and spicy; still in the game!!