Love Bytes is very happy to welcome author D.K. Sutton to their blog today!

D.K is joining us to talk about new release “An Abundance of Brothers”part of the Twisted Bard series.

She talks about her release and brought a wonderful giveaway for our readers!

Welcome D.K. 🙂

An Abundance of Brothers (Twisted Bard) by D. K. Sutton

When Shane Morton invited me to be part of the Twisted Bard series, I jumped at the chance. My love of Shakespear really started in college where I was part of the theater group. I worked on wardrobes and sets and whatever else they needed. I wasn’t an actor, although I once had a minor part in The Tempest. But after reviews dubbed me “a sprite with no fizz” I decided I was better suited to staying in the background

Deciding on a play for this series probably took me longer than the others. The play I feel the most connected to is The Tempest but I wanted to write something humorous and fun. The Comedy of Errors is one of Shakespeare’s earlier plays, but it had everything I wanted: wild mishaps, mismatched twins, mistaken identity, and the idea that appearances can be deceiving.

Unlike the original play, in my world, the mismatched twins separated at birth are not raised as master and servant. Instead, they are raised as brothers. Fraternal twins. One with dark hair and darker skin. The other with red hair and fair skin. None are aware that they have an identical twin or that the person they were raised with is not their brother. The fun really starts when both sets of mismatched twins enter a baking competition near the town where they were born. There are plenty of mishaps as the twins get mistaken for each other as they each try to win the competition.

The book is written in dual point of view, but instead of being the love interests, the povs are from one set of the mismatched twins. Each getting their own HEA.

I hope you enjoy this queer retelling of Shakespeare’s plays. Authors include Shane K Morton, D.K. Sutton (me), Abigail Kade, Lynn Van Dorn, Drea Roman, Marie Sinclair, Giovanna Reaves, and Elizabeth Silver.

Universal Link: An Abundance of Brothers

Amazon Link

Universal Series Link: Twisted Bard Series

Amazon Link

An Abundance of Brothers (Blurb)

Two sets of identical twins mismatched at birth and raised as brothers

Xander enters a baking competition with his brother to prove himself. But things go sideways right from the start. People he’s never met act like they know him. Even his brother seems to change personalities overnight. He needs to win this thing, but they might not make it through the first round. And Xander has distractions of his own. Erik is cute but he’s also the competition and hates Xander with a passion.

Dom wants to help his brother win. While also figuring out the secrets of their past. When his usually awkward brother changes into a charming and sexy man, Dom has bigger problems. How can his body betray him? These feelings are dangerous and wrong. And reciprocated.

When the brothers finally come face-to-face with the truth, they decide to swap places. But pretending to be their twin is more difficult than either imagined. Can they reunite their broken family? Or will their secrets tear them farther apart.

An Abundance of Brothers is a contemporary gay reimagining of Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors”. It features enemies to lovers, mistaken identities, twins being twins, and inappropriate crushes. Mix Switched at Birth with the Parent Trap, then gay it up.

Twisted Bard is a multi-author series that brings the Bard to the present! It’s also Super Gay and full of drama and heat. Did I mention drama? Shakespeare? I think you mean Shakes-queer!

An Abundance of Brothers (Excerpt from chapter 3)

Xander

Did I fall into an alternate universe? Or am I an alien dropped in the middle of a strange land? This is how I feel most days, to be honest. But today has been…worse. Much worse.

Is it the small town thing? In Chicago people pretend you don’t exist, which I prefer. I’ve had more than one person smile at me as if they know me. Including the woman staring at me. She has long brown hair in braids on either side of her face. She waves, and I turn to check if she’s waving to someone else. She isn’t.

When I turn back, a new person is right there. She has a flat face with freckles and red curly hair. I take a step back.

“Welcome to the Dunklin County Bake-Off. Are you Xander?”

Why am I here again? Dom has tried to explain it. But how does winning a bake-off translate into my mother choosing me to run the restaurant? And wouldn’t the Chicago bake-off have been better than this small town competition?

“It’s about surviving the pressure without blowing your cool. Teamwork. Getting along with others. Following directions and being a leader.” I can almost see his point but what isn’t my brother telling me?

Dominic is better at things like this. If he thinks winning this thing will convince our mom, then that’s what I’ll do.

My main obstacle to reaching my goals has always been people. But this time, with Dom’s assistance, I came prepared.

“Yes.” I smooth the lone wrinkle out of my dress shirt. How did that get there? The woman blinks at me. “Thank you,” I add, resisting the urge to pull out my phone and check my spreadsheet.

“You look familiar. And your name is quite distinctive.”

Having a twin can’t be the reason for her confusion. Dom and I look nothing alike and never get mistaken for one another.

Does she expect a response? If so, what? I swallow, hoping I don’t sweat. I wore extra deodorant. Perhaps too much. It feels cakey. “Is that a statement or a question?”

She blinks again.

Distinguishing what constitutes a question is on my spreadsheet but I’m not sure it will help in this situation.

She gives up trying to figure me out—I get that a lot—and hands me a packet of papers stapled together. “Here are your instructions. Your station is over there. They’re all numbered so it should be easy to find. Is your baking partner here?”

“He’ll be here soon,” I say, trying to reassure her, even when I’m not sure myself. I last saw Dominic at breakfast. He promised he’d be on time. Not that he’s ever been able to keep that particular promise, but this was his idea, and he knows how important this is to me.

The coordinator nods and moves on to the next person. I check the paper for our station number, and head in that direction. I don’t get very far. A man, mid-twenties I’d speculate, so around my age, runs up to me. I stop, hoping he’ll run past. He doesn’t.

“I’m so late,” he says, gasping for breath. “Sorry, sweetie.” His eyes are fond—but why? I have never seen him before in my life.

I stare at him. He’s standing in my space—but my private bubble might be bigger than most. He leans in as if he’s going to…what? Kiss me? I recoil. I’m not fond of touching. Or being touched. By strangers. Or their lips.

My spreadsheet is woefully inadequate for this.

“Who are you?” I ask, no longer caring if it’s an acceptable response.

He laughs. It’s more of a giggle actually and annoying. “Very funny, Cage—”

“Don’t call me that.” I’m not fond of my middle name. It reminds me I was named after a Vin Diesel character.

“Come on, Xan. Don’t be mad.”

“Don’t call me that either.”

He pouts. His pout seems fake. Even to me. As if he’s after something. But what?

I cross my arms, mostly to put space between us. He inches closer.

“Sweetie, baby, honey…” His smile is unnerving as he looks at me from under his lashes. My stomach does this weird flippy thing, and it’s not pleasant. At all. What is the appropriate response? One that will get him to back away, but still be suitable. Would he think it odd if I pull out my phone and search my spreadsheet? I know I added this one—he seems to be flirting but it’s more forward than that—but the acceptable response alludes me. My brain screams for me to run or push him away, but I’m working on my peopling skills. His hand skims lightly over my arm, and I jerk away from his touch. I swallow the lump of anxiety and try to calm my racing heart. I can do this.

I take a step back and then another, just to be safe, until I’m completely out of his reach. “Please don’t touch me,” I say in the calmest voice I can muster. “And Xander is the only appropriate way to address me.”

His eyes narrow and all pretense of sweetness vanishes. Anger. This one I recognize. I have no idea why he’s angry when he’s the one accosting me, but I think Dominic will agree I’ve tried an appropriate number of times to be nice. “Fine,” he says with a huff. “Be a jerk.” He brushes his fingers over his hair. I hadn’t noticed before, but his hair appears to be sculpted into a style of some sort. He’s also wearing makeup. “I thought you were in the third group, not the fifth.” This sounds like an accusation as if his mistake is somehow my fault.

“I’m not sure what—”

“Relax, Xander,” he says, emphasizing my name. He’s staring at something behind me. I turn to find Dominic strolling toward us. I blow out a breath, feeling slightly giddy with relief. The stranger rolls his eyes. “Your brother is here to save you.”

He flounces away—that word seems to fit perfectly—and I squeeze my fingers into a fist and release a few times, crumpling the papers in my hand. Focus on the competition, Xander. Not the weird people. I’ve decided they are the problem, not me. At least not this time. No one seems to be acting normal.

“Hey, numnuts. Ready to go?”

I sigh. Except my brother. I might be happier if someone took over his body and changed his personality. “Don’t call me that.”

He laughs. At least his smile is real. Honest. Some of my worry dissipates. Dominic never lets me down. Not in the big ways. Yes, he’s ten minutes late—because we were meeting early—but he’s here. And acting like himself. “Who’s the hottie?”

“What are you talking about?” I lead him to our station so we can prepare. Thankfully he follows. Unfortunately, he continues his questions.

“The cute guy attaching himself to you.”

I don’t bother denying it since that had seemed to be the man’s goal. “I have no idea who that was.”

He laughs again. Louder. Heads turn and watch us. I walk faster. Which isn’t helpful because he raises his voice. “You did say you’d try to mingle—”

“I have never used that word in my life.”

“—but this is so much more than I hoped for.”