Chasing Forever is the final book in the series This Time Forever. Brian and Mal’s story is special in all sorts of ways. Even though these books all standalone, Brian has been there since the beginning–as the character everyone loved to hate in the first book, and the character who seemed to have more to him in book two. In this final story, I share who Brian really is, and hope you’ll all come to love him as much as I do. Then there’s Mal, his other half, my serious soldier who has been waiting all his life for a challenge like Brian. Sometimes we have to be knocked lower than ever before in order to reach that high, and Mal’s journey is one I treasure. I hope you enjoy reading this story of redemption and learning to live out loud.

Hobbies

Being somewhat shy and awkward, Malcolm Montgomery spends a lot of time alone—and doesn’t really mind all that much. He has a lot of fun hobbies to keep him company! First and foremost, he’s a gamer: board games, computer games, online RPGs, and pencil and paper role playing. I like to imagine that when he’s not decorating the end of the bar at the Colonial Tavern, he’s somehow talked his twin brother Donny and bartender Leo into an afternoon of D&D. I also like to imagine Donny and Leo complaining out loud while secretly enjoying the chance to just play for a while. Who doesn’t like games?

When he’s home alone—he’s never completely alone as he has a loyal companion in Lois, a big ginger cat who looks more fierce than she really is—he’ll play Xbox or PlayStation. He has both, of course, as any self-respecting gamer would. (Yes, I have both, plus a Wii and older generations consoles hidden behind the TV for when I want to play older games. Plus a gaming PC upstairs, and several generations of Nintendo DSs and I’m sure there’s a Vita around the house somewhere.)

For stress release, he’ll play Call of Duty, and after meeting Charlie from book one (Building Forever), it’s highly likely that they’ll team up to play together on Friday nights. If we add in Brian’s nephew Josh, and Aaron, the gamer Charlie met at a convention, and Charlie’s best friend Phil, they have the beginnings of a pretty good team. Brian and Simon can sit off to the side rolling their eyes and/or making appreciative noises.

Mal also likes games with historical value, such as Assassin’s Creed, which has some of the most beautiful renderings of the past ever put in a game, and RTS favorites Age of Empires and Total War. I imagine Sid Meier’s Civilization is right up his alley as well. All great consumers of time.

With all the gaming he’s doing, you’d think he wouldn’t have time to read, but Mal loves a good epic fantasy or science fiction series and probably has over a thousand books shelved around the house. He’s an educator with a keen interest in history and language. He’s going to be a reader!

When I picture Mal and Brian sharing a house together with Josh, I can easily see them gathered around the dining room table with a board game spread out between them. Brian probably hasn’t had a lot of opportunity to play games. He’s been too busy pursuing other hobbies (which we’ll talk about next), but I think he’d appreciate the logical exercise of a good strategy game, and any activity that involves spending time with his nephew is worthwhile in his opinion.

Because he’s a bit of a homebody, Mal is also takes pride in keeping a neat and attractive garden and enjoys keeping his house in good repair.

The one hobby he might not be able to enjoy as much in the future is hiking and running. Due to the injuries sustained in a hit and run accident several months before the beginning of the book, Mal is now on crutches and has a lot of physical therapy to endure before he can think about heading out on the trail. But he’s a determined sort of fellow and I like to believe that with the encouragement of Brian and Josh, he’ll be out there again soon.

Brian is a bit of an oddity when it comes to hobbies. I always tend to give my characters a few so that they have something to do in the off hours. Also, I have more than I have the time to indulge, so giving my characters a couple of hobbies helps me manage my own interests. Or something like that. But at first glance Brian doesn’t appear to have any hobbies.

If you asked Simon or Leo, they’d probably answer that hooking up is Brian’s main interest and for many years that would have been half true. Brian does enjoy the chase and he really likes sex. He loves getting to know a new partner and apparently can’t get enough of the rush of new attraction. The number of times he cheated on Simon is never made completely clear, however. What is made clear is that since breaking up with Simon, Brian hasn’t been with a lot of guys. Not as many as you’d expect of someone with his reputation. Part of it is that he’s not over Simon. The other part is that he’s finally trying to figure himself out and on some level he knows that hooking up here there and everywhere isn’t really him. He wants to be in a relationship, he’s just not sure how to commit.

Digging a little deeper into the story of Chasing Forever does expose a few other hobbies for Brian. He loves his job and anything to do with building and construction interests him. Looking at buildings and making plans for a new project feels like time spent pursuing a hobby. When he’s not working, though, Brian is writing letters to the recipients of scholarships, stressing the importance of education, which brings us to the hobby no one knows he has. Brian is a philanthropist and gives a lot of time and money to the Smart Kids Foundation, a charity he started with his best friend Vanessa. Together, they fund group homes, educational programs, assistance for LGBTQ youth, and scholarships. Brian calls himself a silent partner in the foundation and does try to keep behind the scenes. But it’s a cause he’s passionate about, and it’s part of what makes him not such a bad guy after all.

If I ever get around to writing a holiday story for all the characters in the This Time Forever series, I’d like to set it somewhere like Cape May, or maybe at the refurbished Bossen Hill resort, and have all three couples and their friends and family spending some quality time together. I think then we’d see what Brian is like when he’s truly relaxed. See what sort of activities he chooses to amuse himself with.

Then again, he might just spend the whole weekend in bed with Mal—and that’s not such a crazy hobby to have, really.

About Chasing Forever

Old wounds, new directions, and a forever worth chasing.

Malcolm Montgomery was a history teacher and track coach until an accident left him with two broken legs. He’ll recover, but life has knocked his feet out twice now. He’s not sure if he’s ready to try again, especially when it comes to love—and slick guys like Brian Kenway. Still, he needs help mentoring the school’s LGBTQ society, so he asks Brian to take some responsibility.

Brian has been hiding behind his reputation as a liar and a cheat for so long that he actually believes he’s that guy—until his nephew, Josh, turns up on his couch, tossed out for being gay. Brian has never considered being a father, but he knows all about being rejected by loved ones. Now Brian wants to be more: a partner for Mal and a role model for Josh.

But when Mal’s recovery is set back and the sad truth of Brian’s past is revealed, the forever they’ve been chasing seems even further from their grasps. It’ll take a rescue effort to revive their sense of worth and make Brian, Mal, and Josh into a family of their own.

Now available from Riptide Publishing!

Amazon

About the This Time Forever Series

Small towns and second chances.

Simon, Frank, and Brian think love has passed them by. Each is facing down his fiftieth birthday—Simon in a few years, Frank next year, and Brian soon enough. Each has loved and lost. But for these men, everything old really is new again, and it’s only when they return to their roots that they’ll find their second chances and the happily ever after they’ve been waiting their whole lives for.

This time it’s forever.

This series includes:

1. Building Forever — released October 15
2. Renewing Forever — released November 12
3. Chasing Forever — released December 10

About Kelly Jensen

If aliens ever do land on Earth, Kelly will not be prepared, despite having read over a hundred stories about the apocalypse. Still, she will pack her precious books into a box and carry them with her as she strives to survive. It’s what bibliophiles do.

Kelly is the author of a number of novels, novellas, and short stories, including the Chaos Station series, cowritten with Jenn Burke. Some of what she writes is speculative in nature, but mostly it’s just about a guy losing his socks and/or burning dinner. Because life isn’t all conquering aliens and mountain peaks. Sometimes finding a happy ever after is all the adventure we need.

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To celebrate the release of Chasing Forever one lucky person will win a $25 Riptide Publishing gift card and a swag pack of stickers, art cards, and bookmarks! Leave a comment with your contact info to enter the contest. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on December 15, 2018. Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries. Thanks for following along, and don’t forget to leave your contact info!