Complete Me

When it rains, it pours. And right now, it’s a freaking monsoon.

Bjorn: After my parents’ deaths, I devoted myself to raising my younger siblings. It meant growing up fast, but I had to keep the family together. Romantic relationships weren’t a priority. My siblings had to come first.

It takes my near-death experience for me to reprioritize yet again. I need to stop meddling in my siblings’ lives and focus on me. Only, I’m not sure I remember how. Then Kaino Nieminen and Xander Neilsen walk out of my past and into my hospital room, and maybe, just maybe, the universe is finally cutting me a break.

Xander: I live to fill eager student’s minds with the wonder that is Dickens and Austen, to debate the merits of Shelley, and dive into the scandalous roots of the Bronte sisters’ novels. Woe betide the graduate student who doesn’t find English Literature fascinating. I have no patience for unenthusiastic students, or issues letting them know. I’ve been called sharp-tongued, defensive, and dramatic. As those are traits of many main characters in my beloved classic novels, I take it as a compliment. Though it doesn’t win friends and influence students. Or Deans in the English department. Or romantic partners.

Except for Bjorn Osouf. Our fleeting but passionate relationship burns in my memory, like the glowing embers of Manderlay. When the fool plays hero and almost gets himself killed, I take it as my sign to reconnect. As expected, there’s still a spark between us. What I don’t anticipate is the imminently fascinating Kaino Nieminen, or my inconvenient attraction to them.

Kaino: Making personal connections is a challenge. I’m no introvert, but I need time to really get to know someone, to trust them, before they’re a friend. As a non-binary, touch-averse, demisexual, it takes even longer for anything romantic to develop, and believe me, most people aren’t that patient.

There’s only been one person who cared to try. And when Bjorn almost dies it’s the shove I need to reconnect. Before I know it, I’m in Bjorn Osouf’s hospital room, and the instant reconnection between us has me eager to give things one more try. Then Xander Neilsen walks in and throws a wrench into my plan.

Complete Me is a low-angst, MXM, opposites attract, second chance contemporary LGBTQ+ romance about unexpected connections, being more than two halves of a whole, and finding the perfect fit, even if it’s not quite as expected. It contains no cheating and has a guaranteed happily ever after.