Time travel, trains and circuses fill this atmospheric short tale. Wheeler Reynolds has been sent to check out a property for sale - an inn set in the quiet Illinois countryside which is quite the change from modern New York where he lives. Overnight he's sure he hears a train, but Mrs Pratchett the proprietor tells him the next day that following a dreadful train wreck years ago the line was closed. That may be the case, but Wheeler is about to find his DESTINY ON THE TRACKS.

Emilio Tenaglia and his brother Nicola know nothing but the circus in 1918. They train hard to be the best trapeze artist act they can. Parents teach the skills and hard work ethic to their children, and the rootless nature of the life means they have little incentive to leave. Choices of partner are also limited. In modern times, Wheeler stays another night as his plane is delayed due to a storm. He is lured outside by music, and seems to see a young man standing on the train tracks. Next morning the inn looks different, and people are wearing old-fashioned clothes. What's more, there's a circus in town! It's 1918 and being gay, as Wheeler is, suddenly is a dangerous lifestyle. With nothing else to do, Wheeler agrees to give a hand with the circus setting up camp for a dollar a day. He admires Emilio and Nicola's good looks and muscular build, but in such strange circumstances he's afraid to reveal himself, even when one brother smiles at him. Not only that, but has the train crash already happened, or is it yet to come?

Like many time-travel or ghost stories this is a bittersweet tale. Wheeler is shown as coping well in his altered circumstances, wondering if this occurrence is meant to teach him to change his noncommittal ways. If one of the brothers leaves, the trapeze act will be ruined, but that never occurs to Wheeler, who is used to a modern office career. There's plenty of food for thought in this spine-tingling adult romance by Drake Braxton. DESTINY ON THE TRACKS will appeal to many readers as well as the gay community.