Big Boy: A Novella

Meet me at the train museum after dark. Dress for 1957.

When Mandy joins an online dating service, she keeps her expectations low. All she wants is a distraction from the drudgery of single parenthood and full-time work. But the invitation she receives from a handsome man who won’t share his real name promises an adventure—and a chance to pretend she’s someone else for a few hours.

She doesn’t want romance to complicate her life, but Mandy’s monthly role-playing dates with her stranger on a train—each to a different time period—become the erotic escape she desperately needs. And a soul connection she never expected.

Yet when she tries to draw her lover out of the shadows, Mandy has a fight on her hands…to convince him there’s a place for their fantasy love in the light of day.

 

Big Boy was first published by Samhain Publishing in 2013 as a standalone digital novella and as part of the Strangers on a Train anthology (2014). With Samhain’s closing, it went out of print in early 2017. This edition is a re-release, with a redesigned interior and cover but the same content as the Samhain edition.

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Praise for Big Boy: A Novella

This is the best short story I think I’ve ever read. Ever. I absolutely adored every single thing about it.

—Fiction Vixen

This book is so good it makes my teeth hurt. […] I still can't quite wrap my brain around how much I love this story, how completely it consumed me. […] For such a quiet, intimate story, it packs a hell of an emotional punch.

—Angieville

Once I finished this novella, I texted a friend who had already read it, and she said ‘for a short story, Ruthie Knox sure wrote the hell out of it.’ Ruthie Knox really did. […] Every single page has an impact.

—Smexybooks

Big Boy by Ruthie Knox is one of the best portrayals of single parenthood in romance that I’ve read. It’s also a magical story of two people who are playing a game of pretend that becomes real, despite their best efforts.

—Amy Jo Cousins

I read this short novella in one sitting, and when I was done, I went back and read it again. First time I've ever done that. […] Big Boy is erotic, romantic and smart.

—Romance Around the Corner

I want to call up Ms. Ruthie Knox and congratulate her on this novella.

—Amazon reader NQT

There is so much awesome packed into Big Boy by Ruthie Knox that I’m not even sure where to start. A novella with less than 70 pages left me completely blown away by the characterization, setting and plot. This sucker might be short, but it is nothing if not excellent.

—The Allure of Books

Is it possible for a novella to be the best book I've read this year? Absolutely. [… Knox is] a writer to watch, and this is a keeper, a book to re-read and to savor.

—Amazon reader someproseandcon