Patrick McCloud wake up married. A quickie divorce is the most obvious way out—unless you’re the heir of a staunchly Catholic mafia boss with a draconian position on the sanctity of marriage.Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Will and Patrick don't like it, or each other, but they have to make the best of it until they can find another way out of their marriage. To ensure the trust fund Will's charitable foundation relies on isn't revoked by his mobster grandfather, he and Patrick travel to Will’s hometown of Healing, South Dakota, posing as a newlywed couple in the throes of true love at first sight.Complicating their scheme are Will’s unresolved feelings for his all-too-recent ex-boyfriend Ryan, and Patrick’s desire to get back to the only thing that really matters to him in life: neurosurgery. Will they fool everyone? Or will the mafia get wind that their marriage is a fake? Throw their simmering attraction into the mix and all bets are off!Approx. word count: 34KEpisode 1 of 6 in the Wake Up Married serial.

    He doesn't know I'm gay and I'm really scared what will happen when he finds out. Especially when he finds out that I don't want to be just friends anymore.Josh and Trey have been friends since they were kids, but Josh moved away when they were both seventeen. Their bond has been thinned by distance, by the weight of secrets withheld and a trust betrayed. For years now they've only exchanged short emails and occasional calls, over too many miles to cross. Trey's been willing to live with that, even encouraged it. Because letting Josh get close again might make keeping Trey's secrets impossible.When Josh shows up on Trey's doorstep with a request for help, it could well be an unmitigated disaster. But Trey finds he can't say no. This is Josh asking Trey to lend a hand. Josh, the guy who still pushes every other man Trey ever looked at to second place. So Trey's going to take the chance and say yes. He's going to grab a few days with the straight guy he never stopped loving, take what crumbs he can get, and damn the consequences. Although those consequences may not turn out to be the ones Trey's expecting.Photo Description: Two dark-haired young men share a playful moment beside the ocean, framed against a backdrop of waves crashing on a rocky shore. Both men are laughing, wet and tanned, wearing only Speedos. The slimmer man reaches forward to snag the waistband of his friend's swim trunks, pulling them back in a way that exposes part of the other man's taut, rounded ass. The more muscular man reaches back with a hand planted on his friend's close-cropped head, shoving him away.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is Always Write" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.Read the story online or find it in Love Is Always Write: Volume 8.

    From their first days together, they stood united against deadly enemies and prevailed. But now the deadly enemy they face is the cancer thriving inside Luki, consuming his lungs.As Luki's treatment proceeds, Sonny hovers near, determined to provide every care, control every thread of possibility just as he does when he weaves. But he can't control the progress of the cancer or how Luki's body reacts to the treatment regime. Sonny tries, but Luki dances with cancer alone-until he gets a startling reminder of the miracle of life. With renewed determination and mutual love, the two men emerge from their coldest winter into a new spring day.

    Deeply in love, Jared and Alex are such a couple, but the path to true and lasting love is rarely smooth. At fifteen, being gay isn't the best thing that ever happened to a guy. In fact, Alex Ross thinks it's down right scary. Then he meets twenty year old construction worker Jared Douglas, and Alex starts to think the gay thing might not be so bad after all.The attraction between them is intense, but -- mindful of Alex's age -- Jared is determined to keep the sparks from igniting. The stress of controlling his feelings makes it almost a relief when Alex's father ships him off to prep school. Jared expects Alex to forget him and find a boy friend his own age; he doesn't anticipate how much it will hurt. When Alex comes home for Christmas, just turned 16, with his heart on his sleeve, Jared knows he can't continue to keep everything he feels a secret.

    Enigma isn't like anyone Brandon's met before. He's unpredictable, volatile and... well, downright weird! To make matters worse, the gorgeous Enigma isn't at all impressed with Brandon and is unafraid to crush the man's ego at every opportunity. For the first time in his life, Brandon has to work hard to win the guy. Will Brandon agree to Enigma's left of center, bizarre requests, or is the player about to get played?

    One more day to finish the tax audit and get the hell out of town and back to his normal, everyday life. So it absolutely figured that some over-muscled moron with a pneumatic dick substitute would wake him up at the ass-crack of dawn and shoot his plans right to hell. At this point he'd try anything -- maybe a bribe?This story was originally written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's 'Love is Always Write' event.

     After eight years of living in America, it’s time for Shaun to return home to his family’s farm in outback Australia. He has a decision to make: continue working his dream job with NASA or move back for a corporate job and his family. He thinks his decision is easy. He thinks he’s going to have a fun two weeks at home catching up. He also thinks seeing his best friend, Mitch, will finally allow him to move on from that one hot kiss they shared the day he left. Shaun realises he’s truly screwed as what he thinks and what he knows don’t always align. Realigned is a fun and steamy M/M short story in Becca Seymour’s Coming Home series. Stand-alone romances complete with heat, wit, and happily ever afters.

    Sure, he's a successful lawyer with a nice car and a nice apartment, but his life is empty, and Tucker knows why. A decade ago, not ready to come out of the closet, he left Whit Jamison behind. Tucker's spent ten years pretending to be straight-ten years thinking about his mistakes. But all the time in the world couldn't prepare him for the reality of seeing Whit again. Whit's taller, more mature, more attractive than ever, and every bit as out and proud as he was ten years ago. Time hasn't changed the chemistry between them, and it looks like Tucker might get a second chance. All he has to do is brush aside the years of lies and embrace one powerful truth.

    There's nothing I wouldn't do, no limits I won't go to get him back. But he won't give me a chance. He won't so much as look at me because he thinks I don't belong to him anymore.But that's the whole thing.I don't belong anywhere. Doesn't matter where I go or who I am with I am always alone. There is something wrong with me, there has to be because no one else seems quite as miserable at being without a master. But don't we all owe our freedom to something? People are slaves, aren't they? To their jobs, to their partners, to their children, even to their lifestyles? We all have those little kinks that we don't tell anyone about, because we think we're going to be judged for them, and because we're slaves to society's rules. In a world where slavery is the norm I'm a slave to my needs. To him. And I need to get him back.WARNINGS: HARDCORE BDSM, DUB-CON, NON-CON

    But joining the local diet club, Weight Fighters, and hopping on the scales takes everything he has; does he have enough left in him to stick to his diet and act on his feelings for gorgeous Johnny who runs the group?Flirty Johnny has staying power as far as diets are concerned, and all he wants is to win the Valentine’s Challenge. But meeting Mat changes everything. Can Johnny find the staying power to battle his own demons and get what he realises he really wants - to win Mat's heart?

    Other than being best friends, I know that we just fool around to have fun. It doesn’t mean anything more than that; at least I know that it doesn’t mean anything more than that to him.It’s not like we do it every day. Except lately it seems that when we are together, even when we are just hanging out, I can’t help but get the feeling that he is looking at me differently than he normally does… Like he is waiting for me to say something or do something. But it’s driving me crazy, because I know I want more. But I know he doesn’t… Does he?Photo Description: Two young men are side by side on a bus and appear to be sleeping. The boy on the left wears a sleeveless dark blue T-shirt and a grey visor turned backwards. He has his arm around the boy on the right, who rests his head against his friend’s chest, cushioned by a towel or pillow. Their fingers are laced together, holding on as they sleep.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    is to come face-to-face with the man whose hot, big-screen love scenes were instrumental in his own sexual awakening. Micah--along with a million other movie goers--has fantasized about Asher Cain for as long as he can remember, but actually living out those fantasies awakens something else altogether... his heart. And some achieve it, for a price... Asher Cain's agent has steered his career into box-office gold, and after fifteen years in Hollywood, Ash has achieved everything he's ever wanted. The only price has been staying in the closet, but the adulation of millions has made up for never having love of his own. Until he meets Micah. Is it possible to have it all? When the two meet, sparks fly, and Micah will have to balance his star-struck infatuation with his own self-respect while Ash is finally pushed to decide once and for all if he's willing to risk everything he's built for the one thing he's never had. Love. Spotlight is a steamy, standalone gay romance of approximately 25,000 words, with a HEA and no cliffhangers. Portions of this book were previously published under the title, "Secrets and Desires."