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khruschevshoe · 1 year

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Book Club? Book club.

I have recently read and fallen in love with Kenna Jenkins' "Burn the House Down" and I need others to read it too because I am going FERAL bc I have no one to talk to abt this book—please some of y'all take me out of my misery and enjoy this with me. It's got a little something for everyone, too! Some of the features:

The 1st woman President (in 1945) who ISN'T demonized for wanting power

Messy mother-daughter relationships for those with mommy issues

"Love as a religion" casual queer blasphemy all over the place

Folklore vibes

a racist sexist Senator gets called out and shouted at in middle of white house foyer

A well-done and thematically enhancing pro-choice subplot

THE WHITE HOUSE BURNS DOWN

Political Hozier vibes

Wlw/mlm solidarity AND wlw/mlm hostility (2 for the price of 1!)

The tragic arc of ambition destroying everything Janine holds dear for all y'all Succession gremlins

Alternate history that ISN'T about the nazis winning

Complex drag queen character who is more than just comic relief

Attention to fashion and queer history!

A satisfying redemption arc for my fellow angst-with-happy-ending simps

aromantic rep

Indie published!

Complicated, well-developed queer main cast

Both-ways bearded marriage btw secretly lesbian president and her gay congressman best friend

TWO GODDAMN BREATHTAKING PLOT TWISTS AT THE END

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #janine moore #annette moore #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #janthia #wlw mlm hostility #wlw mlm solidarity #what more could you ask for?#queer history #alternate history #sapphic #bookblr

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alittlethinghappened · 1 year

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Book club? Book club.

I have recently read and fallen in love with Kenna Jenkins' "Burn the House Down" and I need others to read it too because I am going FERAL bc I have no one to talk to abt this book—please some of y'all take me out of my misery and enjoy this with me. It's got a little something for everyone, too! Some of the features:

The 1st woman President (in 1945) who ISN'T demonized for wanting power

Messy mother-daughter relationships for those with mommy issues

"Love as a religion" casual queer blasphemy all over the place

Folklore vibes

a racist sexist Senator gets called out and shouted at in middle of white house foyer

A well-done and thematically enhancing pro-choice subplot

THE WHITE HOUSE BURNS DOWN

Political Hozier vibes

Wlw/mlm solidarity AND wlw/mlm hostility (2 for the price of 1!)

The tragic arc of ambition destroying everything Janine holds dear for all y'all Succession gremlins

Alternate history that ISN'T about the nazis winning

Complex drag queen character who is more than just comic relief

Attention to fashion and queer history!

A satisfying redemption arc for my fellow angst-with-happy-ending simps

aromantic rep

Indie published!

Complicated, well-developed queer main cast

Both-ways bearded marriage btw secretly lesbian president and her gay congressman best friend

TWO GODDAMN BREATHTAKING PLOT TWISTS AT THE END

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #janine moore #annette moore #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #janthia #wlw mlm solidarity #wlw mlm hostility #what more could you ask for?#queer history #alternate history #sapphic #bookblr #this wouldn't blaze on my main blog #so y'all will get me digging up my old sideblog instead

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aletterinthenameofsanity · 2 months

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Burn the House Down: Preston Lithwick-Moore

Playlist 2 of my Burn the House Down series!

God, what is there to say about First Gentleman Preston Lithwick-Moore? He was in a double-beard lavender marriage with the first woman president. He adored his stepdaughter. He developed from an idealistic but overconfident Ivy League grad to a champion of queer rights. He ended up being the only out senator on the Hill. His dad was a dick but her was determined to be a better stepfather than his father ever was to him. He loved Luis with all his heart and called him his soulmate but considered Janine to be his mirror and his match. As my beta-reader called him, "the greatest stepdilf in the world." As his playlist description deems him:

The charmer of Washington. The love of Luis' life. Janine's match. Annette's biggest fan.

@snazzy-hats-and-adhd @blufox3542 @neshatriumphs @khruschevshoe @weedpoop @thesirhandsome-tepalehuia @sillylittlecheeto @nefertittti @henrythepug @meet-me-behindthemall12 @aboutblankpages-blog-blog @artemisiaarm @profiterole-reads @marchionessdebrannas @harrietmjones @thearcaneuniversity @little-bloodied-angel @artemisbones @jacksope-lives @fleuranna @shehungthemoon @spacecatrainshell @celestedeluna

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henrythepug · 1 year

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Burn the House Down Update:

Unfortunately this will be the last update because I just finished the book !!! I loved it so so much. I recommend it to every person who can read, seriously it’s like a cool idea you think of in your silly little brain. BUT SOMEONE ACTUALLY WROTE IT DOWN !!! It’s just such a cool concept with the most amazing characters and the ending is just so satisfying yet gut wrenching at the same time.

I have realized that I have a type when it comes to favorite book characters. I mean Harry from 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and now freaking Preston Ezekiel Lithwick III.

Also Annette is such a badass and is 100% ace spec and bi, not projecting or anything, the signs where definitely there !!!

Anyway, thank you @khruschevshoe for the fantastic recommendation!

And yes @noromo35 it is finally your turn to borrow it !!!

#burn the house down #bisexual

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khruschevshoe · 6 months

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That moment when you listen to a song you so viscerally associate with a certain book that you're catapulted back into the hyperfixation...except screw you, the book has like 3 fans and there's no content to read so you're fucked

...anyway I'm onto my like dozenth reread of Burn the House Down bc I made the mistake of listening to The Bomb by Florence + the Machine, the ultimate Janthia song. How are y'all doing?

@flower-crowned-lady @henrythepug @kayechanted

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #janine moore #annette moore #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #janthia #the bomb #florence + the machine

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khruschevshoe · 6 months

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Remember how I said I finally read RW&RB a while back? Well, I finally watched the movie. And..... I really super duper wish they would have just left the book alone (more so because the content/characters they cut out were SO central to the story-line that they might as well have just made a different movie entirely). Ugh, bleh. I need to read the book again-

My guy I literally was *just* reading through a thorough analysis of why the movie felt so off! June and Rafael were so integral to the plot/themes of the story, Bea and Nora were made into completely different characters, the aspect of Ellen and Oscar's divorce being missing hit me on a personal level (even if I understood why they did it), and like...the entire last half hour of the movie, basically everything after the lake scene, felt so OFF that I couldn't stand it. Basically every questionable pacing/writing/ordering of scenes decision was made from the fact that they took out all of the queer history in the museum scene, the fact that Alex makes his speech coming out about the relationship BEFORE he talks to Henry, the fact that a queer Latino man outs them due to jealousy rather than, you know, THE RICH WHITE CONSERVATIVE HELLBENT ON DESTROYING EVERYTHING QUEER and then him literally being EXPOSED by a queer Latino man (the optics on that last one are a bit...yikes, ngl). I appreciated what they did with the movie, a family-washed queer romcom is still better than nothing, but some decisions are BAFFLING.

(Though I have absolutely no notes about how they executed the lake scene. The acting during the moment that Henry is listening to Alex's feelings confession and you can just SEE the moment he shuts down because he knows he can't give Alex what he wants? And then the shot of him in the lake? 10/10. No notes. The ONLY scene that is better in the movie than in the book.)

But yeah, I'm almost glad that my favorite book is a self-published indie sapphic alternate history novel because that means no chance of movie adaptation. As much as I would KILL to see President Janine Moore, Cynthia Freeman, First Gentleman Preston Lithwick-Moore, Guadalupe di Angelo/Luis Diaz, and First Daughter Annette Moore on my screen, I would be TERRIFIED to see how they'd make it palatable to straight audiences.

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khruschevshoe · 8 months

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Y'all I am SCREAMING I cannot BELIEVE that this is how the George chapter ends in the outsider-POV fic that Kenna Jenkins released for Burn the House Down on her ao3 account??? I am SOBBING???

@henrythepug @flower-crowned-lady @neutral-wizard

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #janine moore #annette moore #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #george moore #my georgie boy #spoilers #ao3 #aletterinthenameofsanity #NOT OKAY

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aletterinthenameofsanity · 1 year

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My debut novel!

Anyone a fan of my fanfics? Also a fan of sapphics, secret relationships, wlw mlm solidarity, alternate history, arson, and destroying corrupt systems? Well, have I got a book for you! BURN THE HOUSE DOWN is my self-published debut novel about the first woman president, Janine Moore, as she struggles to balance her presidential ambitions with her relationships with her daughter and her secret girlfriend. Sound interesting? Check out the link here.

Here’s the blurb for those that are interested!

In 1935, Janine Moore was just another Congressman’s widow who ascended to his seat by promising to continue his legacy. Twelve years later, the White House burned, with President Janine Moore left standing in the ashes.

It’s been fifty years since Janine Moore was president. Few remember her “Accidental Presidency,” and even fewer know that it was no real accident. After half a century of the truth gathering dust, the story of the first female president finally spills from the lips and pens of the most important people in her life—a gripping tale of political intrigue, heedless ambition, desperate motherhood, and a sixty-year forbidden love affair that will shake everyone’s ideas of what truly went down in an administration destined to burn.

What lengths was a farmer’s daughter willing to go to in order to climb the stairs to the White House and break the greatest glass ceiling in the world? Why did her famously temperamental relationship with her second husband crash and burn? And most importantly, who burned down the White House that fateful night?

#burn the house down #annette moore #janine moore #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #writeblr #bookblr #alternate history #sapphic #president #american presidency #aletterinthenameofsanity #fanfic #ao3 #my first book!

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khruschevshoe · 9 months

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Guess who FINALLY got around to reading Red, White, & Royal Blue??

IT WAS SO GOOD!!!

Ikr? It's my favorite book of all time (tied with Burn the House Down—June and Cynthia mean so much to me personally, but so do the rest of the main characters of both. How can you choose your favorite? I love Alex and Henry and Nora and Pez and Annette and Preston and Luis and Janine so much—my personal favorite changes by the hour and mood). It got me back into reading original novels back when I first read it. I'm so glad my friend recommended it- it changed my life and I'm now a diehard Casey McQuiston fan. The emails? The quotes? The tenderness? Should I tell you that everytime we're apart, your body comes back to me in dreams? THE MAP TURNING BEAUTIFUL LAKE LBJ BLUE? God, I love it so much. It restored my faith in romance. I can quote it just as much as I can Burn the House Down

#rwrb #red white and royal blue #alex claremont diaz #henry mountchristen windsor #firstprince #burn the house down #annette moore #my asks #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #janine moore #my fave books of all time

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khruschevshoe · 10 months

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The Author Reveal

(spoilers)

Can the child within my heart rise above?

Can I sail through the changin' ocean tides?

Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Well, I've been afraid of changin'

'Cause I've built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Even children get older

And I'm getting older too

-Fleetwood Mac, Landslide

Preston Ezekiel Lithwick III died on March 17th, 1982. His side of Janine Moore’s story was dispensed over the years that the author knew him, with the final story of his divorce given in his hospital room the day he died of lung cancer, a silver-haired Luis still at Preston’s side holding his hand. It was this final interview that sparked the idea for this book.

Preston willed his wealth to a variety of charities, including the Lithwick-Diaz Foundation for Wayward Children. It was a foundation dedicated to providing safe and comfortable living environments and group homes to queer and homeless children left behind by the system. Ever since he conceded that first argument to Janine all of those years ago, Preston always said that his wealth needed to be used to better the world.

Preston willed his heirlooms and houses to Luis, to Luis’ nephew Sammy, and to the author of this book, Annette Moore.

I received the house Preston always kept in Washington. It came with the last of Preston’s famous notes:

Here’s a place to raise all of your dogs, Annie. Make sure to name one David Jr. for me.

—P. E. L. M.

Just for the record, I did.

And then I named Davey’s son Zeke—short for Ezekiel.

-Kenna Jenkins, Burn the House Down

For those who liked my Author Reveal post!

@evelynhug0 @henrythepug @everytimeyousaygoodbye @flower-crowned-lady

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #annette moore #preston lithwick iii #aesthetic #my fave stepdaughter-stepdad duo #god i love their dynamic #this line #THIS LINE?#BROKE MY FUCKING HEART #I AUDIBLY STARTED CRYING #spoilers #i'm gonna wreck something #landslide #fleetwood mac #lyrics #litedit #litedit moodboard

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khruschevshoe · 6 months

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hi! <3 I was looking up info on burn the house down on google and I've gotta say, you popped up too many times not to come here and tell you that it worked! i saw you recommend it to others and the "and I've just gotta ask you: have you heard of Burn the House Down by Kenna Jenkins" made me want to read it!

I'm so sorry this ask got buried in my inbox! I'm so glad you went and checked it out- it was my favorite book I read this year AND was written by one of favorite fanfic authors (it's her first published book), so I'm glad I was successful getting out the word! I hope you enjoyed it- feel free to send me asks/dms about what you thought of it- I'd love to discuss!

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #janine moore #annette moore #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #my asks #book recs #book club is in session #aletterinthenameofsanity

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khruschevshoe · 1 year

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Guess who finally got their copy of Burn the House Down!!

I forget exactly what chapter I’m on, but it is REALLY good so far-

I'm so excited to hear what you think! Have you finished the book yet? HAVE YOU GOTTEN TO THE FINAL FEW CHAPTERS??? Did you cry like I did? Did you grin/scream at the plot twists? Who was your favorite character? Did you like the relationships? What did you think about all of the side characters? BOOK CLUB IS IN SESSION AND I MUST RAMBLE-

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #janine moore #annette moore #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #janthia #luis x preston #my asks #flower-crowned-lady

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khruschevshoe · 9 months

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Burn the House Down (Taylor's Version)

Janine is last great American Dynasty/I Did Something Bad/Champagne Problems/Tis the Damn Season/peace

Preston is Daylight/mirrorball/This is me trying

Annette is My Tears Ricochet/22/Seven

Luis is Long Live/New Romantics/Lover

Cynthia is illicit affairs/The Last Time/gold rush/All You Had To Do Was Stay

@meet-me-behindthemall12

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khruschevshoe · 1 year

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May the whole sky fall

May it all come down

Waste it all for the truth

For the fool in her wedding gown

-The Crane Wives, Shallow River

You want to talk about dropping a bomb? You want to talk about toppling an empire?

Three minutes. Three minutes was all it took. Blink, and it all came down.

The empire crumbled. The glory faded. A future legacy was ripped to the ground and irrevocably stained.

-Kenna Jenkins, Burn the House Down

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #janine moore #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #annette moore #this song has been living in my mind rent free for weeks #the crane wives #shallow river #web weaving #aesthetic #anyone want more song comps like this?#bc I've got a playlist #janthia

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khruschevshoe · 1 year

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little darlin' don't you look charming here in the eye of a hurricane (Burn the House Down fanfic)

My first fanfic! Also on Archive of Our Own!

When Preston Lithwick III agreed to marry Janine Moore, he was already well-known around Washington D.C. He was a womanizer in name and appearance (if not behind the scenes), a charmer to all of the ladies and a drinking buddy to all of the men. He had allies lined up and down both chambers of Congress, and plenty of those men considered themselves Preston's friends, even if he was far from returning the sentiment. He was the life of every party. He was the center of every gathering.

Preston thought he knew fame. He thought he knew popularity.

The first time that the First Family takes a trip across the country to help Democrats campaign for the 1946 midterms, Preston realizes that he knows jackshit about fame.

People back home liked him. They reelected him to Congress over and over again. With the success of the wedding, they'll likely reelect him again this year.

But this? Crowds lined up and down streets as he and Janine pass by in Preston's old 1938 Lincoln Zephyr. A few flowers end up making it through the open windows as Janine waves, in her element charming the populace.

(Luis and Cynthia will be coming through on the train tonight. Preston aches to pull Luis into his arms and kiss him as thoroughly as possible, but Cynthia was smart enough to suggest that it would be better optics for Preston, Janine, and Annette to take the early train with their Secret Service agents and then drive through town with the good Senator behind, as a show of alliance. There's a reason why Preston respects her.)

When they stop in front of the Truman House, a crowd of hundreds of people is parted by the Secret Service as Preston, Janine, and Annette make their way to the Truman House, all dressed in their best. Janine looks as beautiful as ever in a green Dior full-skirted dress under a tailored ivory blazer. Preston does his best to match her in a dark green checked suit with pleated trousers and a dark tie. Annette looks the part of the dutiful but fashionable daughter, in a blue shirtdress with a white flower pinned to the right side of her chest.

The Trumans greet them in front of the cheering crowds, and Preston is pleased to find that the good Senator has a jovial smile and a sense of style that could rival Preston and even Luis. As Janine and Senator Truman shake hands, the crowds roar their approval of a hometown hero and the President cementing an alliance.

Preston takes the noise in stride. He's always enjoyed a crowd. Janine adjusts just as easily- she's always been one for socializing and schmoozing, as at home with a group of people as she is with her family. She's even more graceful with strangers than she is with the ones she loves, at times.

Annette, on the other hand? She's forcing a smile, but it's clear she'd rather be anywhere than here. The Trumans are lovely and kind enough not to say anything, if they notice it, but her discomfort is easily noticeable by those who know her best. She and the Trumans' daughter Margaret get along as well as two girls in that age range with wildly different interests can. Margaret is a college graduate with an interest in history and the opera; Annette is a restless teenager who would rather talk about sports or biology.

But they both understand the importance of the two families appearing on the same page, so while Senator Truman, Bess Truman, Janine, and Preston take their whiskey in the sitting room, Annette and Janine retire to the music room. As the good Senator and Janine discuss speeches, Preston gets to chatting with Bess, quickly cottoning on to her love of sport. Though baseball is more Cynthia's game to watch than his, Preston knows enough to keep things interesting. Bess is a lovely conversationalist either way.

(And to Annette's luck, Preston overhears her and Bess' conversation turn to the slim convergence of their interests: scientific history, a strange but welcome subject.)

To Annette's benefit, the Trumans are known to be rather private individuals, with visits with politicians not lasting longer than half an hour. Annette still seems worse for the wear when the First Family emerges with plans for speeches the next day and a new mystery novel for Annette in hand. It's not her usual scientific non-fiction or emerging fantasy, but the only moment that Preston saw a genuine smile from her was when Bess pressed the book into her hand with a smile.

The three of them enter the car and, with windows rolled up, depart for the train station where they will meet. Segregation is the disgusting name of the game in Missouri, but they will still make due where they can. That means separate hotels but a shared dinner in a restaurant where the President will insist that they cannot bear to have dinner without "her loyal Secretary and the First Gentleman's esteemed colleague."

Cynthia and Luis emerge from the train station as quite the picture: Cynthia in a lovely yellow blouse, matching dark blazer and knee-length skirt, and pearls, and Luis in those snazzy spectacles and that absolutely devastating zoot suit of his. They make quite the handsome pair and Preston is sure to shake hands with Cynthia and Luis with equal vigor even as he burns to take Luis to a back alley and kiss the side of his neck until he laughs. Appearances must, and he never once will pass up an opportunity to speak with Cynthia Freeman.

But a man has his priorities, and so: "Luis and I will meet you all for a late dinner," Preston says, covering his giddiness with the pomposity he learned all too well from his parents.

Annette rolls her eyes. "Of course you will," she says as she turns to Cynthia and begins to explain the book that Bess Truman gave her.

Preston doesn't turn to look at Luis; he's never looked away. He can't reach out and take Luis' hand, not with those same crowds (albeit slightly winnowed) watching them. Rather, he just smiles and says, "Mind joining me on a stroll before dinner, dear colleague?"

Luis smiles. "Sounds like a lovely plan for the evening, dear colleague." He can't wink, not with the occasional flash of a reporter's camera in the crowd, but the fondness in his voice is clear.

Preston turns to Janine and presses a kiss to her cheek. He doesn't miss the way that Cynthia's gaze flicks away in that moment, just as it always does, as if avoiding the moment can avoid the pain of pretending in public. Preston likes Cynthia, he wishes he didn't have to cause her such pain, but the mantra is the same as always: appearances must. "I shall see you for dinner, darling," he says with a wink, and she smiles back at him, her smile as bright as it is for Cynthia.

"Hurry back, honey," she says, reaching out to lovingly squeeze his hand in hers, and his fond smile at the sheer satisfaction in her eyes is genuine. She got what she wanted out of today- more political power- and now they are going to celebrate a job well-done with the family.

What more could a couple ask for?

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #janine moore #annette moore #cynthia freeman #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #janthia #luis x preston #aletterinthenameofsanity #khruschevshoe #missing scene #POV Preston #hope y'all like it #my first fanfic

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khruschevshoe · 1 year

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Luis Diaz and Preston Lithwick III

But when he loves me I feel like I'm floating

When he calls me pretty I feel like somebody

Even when we fade eventually to nothing

You will always be my favorite form of loving

-Beach Bunny, Cloud 9

I looked up, eyes wide, to find Preston smiling at me, gaze fond, smile flirtatious, and my heart warmed in my chest. “It’s a true precious gem,” Preston said, “Like you.”

“You really know how to flatter a guy,” I said, forcing the words past my shocked lips. My fingers couldn’t tear themselves from the necklace. I’d never held a fortune in my hands before, never even come close. Lucy was a queen of fool’s gold and false diamonds, a sparkle that came from the heart but only sat skin deep. The necklace would be the perfect accessory to lift her ensemble to greatness, if I could only figure out how to integrate it properly.

“I’m just treating you like the queen you are,” Preston said, leaning in for a kiss that I was all too happy to return. The jewelry box slid off of my lap and onto the duvet as we fell back onto the bed, mouths against each others’.

I wear that necklace to this day, y’know. I’m in my seventies but I’ll still perform occasionally. Every time I’m onstage, that necklace glitters around my neck, Preston’s love for both sides of me shining for all to see. Preston did something similar in our everyday lives. He would steal my shirts, my button-ups and my guayaberas, and wear them with his suits, Miami linen under Boston luxury wool.

-Kenna Jenkins, Burn the House Down

#burn the house down #kenna jenkins #preston lithwick iii #luis diaz #luis x preston #my boys #my precious boys #the most solid partnership in the entire book #the diamond necklace #the humming jazz #them in their banquet/gala era #and preston slapping janine #it was cruel but it was from a place of protectiveness #bc Luis was the love of Preston's life #and he would do anything to bring him happiness #cloud 9 #beach bunny cloud 9 #beach bunny

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