So now that fall’s rolling back around–although you wouldn’t know it from looking out the window in northern California–it’s time to check in with the boys from California Pacific College.

Nick and Morgan haven’t been around much, I’m sad to say. Morgan’s been busy working on a combined MA and teaching credential. Not that it’s the best time to go into education in California, but it’s what he wanted to do, and Morgan’s always been the sort to do as he pleases, as Nick well knows. Too many school districts in California are cutting back and firing teachers these days. Oddly enough, administrators seem secure in their jobs.

Fortunately for them both, Nick’s going into a field with plenty of growth potential. He’s currently doing a hospital-based internship in physical therapy. Unfortunately, since his entire class was looking for such hospital-based internships in the Sacramento area, he couldn’t get one locally, so he and Morgan are living apart. Nick’s not lonely, however. Besides keeping busy at work, he’s staying with Morgan’s parents in the Bay Area while he works in a hospital there.

Brad’s finally hitting his stride. There’s no nice way to put this, but he was kind of an asshole in Rocking The Boat, wasn’t he? He just hadn’t figured himself out. Once he did, he started to show maturity and a certain grace that made his friends welcome and appreciate him instead of hide the breakables. He’s still playful and boisterous, he just knows when to quit. Drew helps with that. The two of them, through much hard work, have made their remodeling business a real success.

Drew had a bit of a hard time when Brad not only helped out Owen, a man he hooked up with once (in Tipping the Balance), but brought him into the adaptive rowing program at the Capital City Rowing Club. Brad smoothed it over for his partner, and helped Owen, who’d been injured in the line of duty, work things through with his beau, veterinarian and rower Adam Lennox, who has some issue of his own. You can read their story in Burning It Down, available from Dreamspinner press sometime in December 2012. Yep, that’s the only teaser you get, at least for now.

Lastly, Stuart’s life has gotten interesting. Stuart was a year behind most of his friends from Rocking the Boat. He was younger, for one thing, but he also had to work to support himself. Sure, he had scholarships and grants that took care of most of CalPac’s tuition and living expenses, but they weren’t quite enough. Well, he’s finally graduated from California Pacific and found himself at a crossroads.

Guess who he found waiting for him at that crossroads? No, not Jonathan Poisonwood. They broke up, in part because Jonathan was a rich idiot who set Stuart’s teeth on edge. No, he found Philip Sundstrom. Brad may have been so far in the closet that he was the uncrowned king of Narnia, but Philip’s bi and has always known it; his flings with men have been short and sweet. It just wasn’t worth crossing their father, but now, thanks to Philip’s maneuvering and Randall Sundstrom’s own vicious actions (see Tipping the Balance), Randall’s not a factor anymore.

Stuart’s starting medical school soon, and has a burning prejudice against rich people, which is a problem, since Philip’s loaded and can’t keep his hands off Stuart. Philip’s also the only man who’s ever really “gotten” Stuart. Unfortunately for Stuart, he’s not looking for a commitment, having just been dumped by his long-term girlfriend. Check out Settling the Score, available from Dreamspinner sometime next summer, to see how these unlikely boyfriends face corporate machinations and lies, serious illness and a lack of personal understanding, and a fatal traffic accident.

So there we are, cherubs. I hope that’s enough to keep you coming back for more.

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