Book picks similar to
The Young Man's Guide to Love and Loyalty by Clara Merrick
historical
fantasy
romance
m-m
Haven
Morgan Brice - 2021
Old secrets, hidden psychics, secret shifters, ghosts, scandals—and true love. A series of long-ago disappearances leads cold case private detective Austin Williams to investigate a troubled sanitarium. Jamie Miller is new in town, temporarily running the local historical association, and he willingly signs on to help solve Austin’s mystery. Sparks fly between them as they dig into the hospital’s troubled past. But someone wants the past to stay buried—and is willing to bury Austin and Jamie to keep it that way. Haven is part of the multi-author Magic Emporium Series. Each book stands alone, but each one features an appearance by Marden’s Magic Emporium, a shop that can appear anywhere, but only once and only when someone’s in dire need. This book contains explicit scenes and a guaranteed HEA.
Geoffrey the Very Strange
Angel Martinez - 2021
No pressure.
Everyone's always told Aspic that trouble can't help following him because of his heritage. Determined to put the lie to half-demon stereotypes, he's finally landed a good, quiet job as an herbalist's clerk where the owner trusts him to man the shop alone. What could go wrong selling coriander and thyme?When Geoffrey first enters the shop, Aspic finds the little man's eccentric appearance startling, then intriguing. Geoffrey explains, in stops and starts, that he is a theoretical necromancer researching replacements for blood magic. His current line of inquiry involves seashells—do they have any in stock? Aspic's co-workers warn him that Geoffrey is a walking disaster, but he finds himself more and more drawn to a necromancer concerned with ethical death magic.Aspic is with Geoffrey in his lab when he has his first success, but the results aren't at all what he was aiming for. Instead of raising the dead rabbit on his table, the ritual animates the seashell and rock spell components, which flee the lab and cause havoc. They soon discover that the spell-animated objects are "zombies" in that they can "infect" other inanimate things.An unorthodox necromancer and an exasperated shop clerk are going to need some unconventional help to find a working de-animation spell before the world is overrun by zombie seashells and stones gone mad.Geoffrey the Very Strange is part of the Magic Emporium series. Each book stands alone, but each one features an appearance by Marden’s Magic Emporium, a shop that can appear anywhere, but only once and only when someone’s in dire need.This book contains theoretical necromancy, unexpected spell outcomes, some extraordinarily angry seashells, and a guaranteed HEA.
The Replacement Husband
Eliot Grayson - 2018
His picture-perfect courtship and engagement to the man of his dreams is proof of that. But when his betrothal takes a disastrous turn, Owen’s only hope to restore his tarnished reputation comes from a most shocking source—the cold, disturbingly sensual brother of the man who just shattered his heart and abandoned him. Perhaps he’s not as blessed as he’d always thought…Arthur Drake is accustomed to cleaning up after his impulsive and selfish brother. After all, he’s done it his whole life. The latest debacle, though, is much worse than usual. This time, his brother’s actions have threatened not only their family name, but Arthur’s own happiness. The only honorable choice is to marry Owen. But while he knows he can repair the damage to his beautiful new husband’s reputation, mending his broken heart might prove infinitely more difficult.It’s not long before the lines between duty and passion blur, and Arthur finds himself in the inconvenient position of falling for his new husband. Will his love be enough to convince Owen to let their marriage of convenience become the happily ever after they both deserve?This is an M/M romance set in an alternate-universe Regency with waistcoats, awkward tea-drinking, and pagan goddesses on the loose. It is the first in a series, but it can be read as a standalone.
A Royal Affair
John Wiltshire - 2014
In reality, he is a man haunted by an unusual past and running from his own nature. While the Reformation transforms much of Europe, it has yet to touch Hesse-Davia; this is a land mired in superstition with cruel punishments for crimes such as witchcraft and sodomy. While traveling to the dying king’s bedside to offer his medical expertise, Nikolai is set upon by a bandit. Reaching the king’s ancient stronghold, he discovers his mysterious brigand is the beautiful, arrogant Prince Aleksey. Aleksey is everything Nikolai is not: unguarded, passionate and willful. Despite their differences, Nikolai feels an irresistible desire for the young royal that keeps him in Aleksey’s thrall. But Hesse-Davia is a dangerous world for a newly crowned king who wants to reform his country—and for the man who loves him.
A Dragon's Fortune
Sam Burns - 2021
He’s a great boss, a good person, and he spends his days making honey-glazed caramel treats in the shape of bunnies for his bakery, Honey Bunny. Still, the highlight of every day is watching the adorable college student who’s Much Too Young For Him stuff his face full of Cillian’s sweet buns.Finnick West is a college student who dreams of baked goods, much to the consternation of his figure-skating partner. She’s not offended by the temptation, but by Finnick’s continuing failure to ask out the cute baker. With pressure from all sides, Finn knows it’s time to take something for himself, if only he can catch Hot Baker’s eye.While the two of them work up the nerve to ask each other out, an assassination attempt reveals forces working to not only stop their interspecies romance in its tracks, but destroy everything and everyone they love.A Dragon’s Fortune is part of the Magic Emporium Series. Each book stands alone, but each one features an appearance by Marden’s Magic Emporium, a shop that can appear anywhere, but only once and only when someone’s in dire need. This book contains dragons, ice skating, a whole bunch of sugar, and a guaranteed HEA.
The King's Dragon
W.M. Fawkes - 2019
It’s a secret he’s kept from the knights he’s fought beside, from the ladies who bat their lashes at him, and from his closest companion, Prince Reynold. If it were to get out, he’d be banished to the Mawrcraig Mountains along with the rest of his kind, but the kingdom of men is the only one he’s ever known, and his heart lives in the stone halls of those who’d count him an enemy. When the old king dies and Prince Reynold takes the throne, two visitors from the north throw Tristram into the middle of the ancient conflict between dragons and men. They put him on a collision course with the king’s shadow, Bet Kyston, a dangerous assassin who may want him dead or may want more of Tristram that he’d ever thought to give. With the eyes of dragons upon him and a threat from the north creeping toward the home he loves, Tristram must weigh his allegiances before his dual legacies tear him apart.
Elven Duty
Rhys Lawless - 2021
Not quite what I expected on a Thursday evening after another day at the office.Soon, I’m thrown in a world of duty, magic, and monsters.And a family feud as old as time itself.I would have run. I would have gone back to my old life. Or started a new one.But when the man I’m supposed to hate turns out to be my elven soulmate the only thing I can do is fight for my right to love him.No matter what kind of monster gets in the way.Elven Duty is a gay urban fantasy romance with two star-crossed lovers, a ton of monsters hellbent on destroying this dimension and a secret “baby”. This book has a Happy For Now ending with a tease of the next book in the series.This book was previously part of the Magic Emporium multi-author series. The only changes made are the fixing of awry typos and the addition of the last chapter tease.
Hexes and Horns
Rowan McAllister - 2021
Even for a unicorn, all sweetness and light, all the time, can get a little boring. But, falling for the eldest son of the dark witch family who runs his little West Virginia town might be getting his fingers too close to the fire, even for him.For Ryan, it was supposed to be a simple trip back home to show support during a family crisis. But when hexes, secrets, a family demon, and the O’Byrne witches are involved, nothing is ever simple.<Hexes and Horns, is part of the Magic Emporium Series. Each book stands alone, but each one features an appearance by Marden’s Magic Emporium, a shop that can appear anywhere, but only once and only when someone’s in dire need. This book contains explicit sex scenes, a muscular moonshiner, a reluctant witch, a spooky best friend, and a guaranteed HEA.
A Time to Rise
Tal Bauer - 2016
Deep in the Vatican, a brotherhood exists, sworn protectors of the earth, and they stand against the darkness. Operating in secret and silence, they protect our world from the sinister, the etheric, and the evils that exist beyond the Veil.But it's a lonely life, and Alain Autenburg knows that more than most. His lover was ripped from him years ago, and he vowed never to get close to another soul again. Even when the loneliness presses down on him, and his empty heart cries out for something more.Something more comes in Cristoph Hasse, a new soldier arriving in Rome to serve in the Pontifical Swiss Guard. Young, brash, and fitting in at right angles everywhere he goes, Cristoph struggles in the murky, deceptive labyrinth of the Vatican. Propelled forward by a past he can't understand, Cristoph collides with Alain as both men crash headfirst into the darkest secret of the Vatican... and of the world.
Brothers of the Wild North Sea
Harper Fox - 2013
He loves his life of learning as a monk in the far-flung stronghold of Fara, but the hot warrior blood of his chieftain father flows in his veins. Heat soothed only in the arms of his sweet-natured friend and lover, Leof.When Leof is killed during a Viking raid, Cai’s grieving heart thirsts for vengeance—and he has his chance with Fenrir, a wounded young Viking warrior left for dead. But instead of reaching for a weapon, Cai finds himself defying his abbot’s orders and using his healing skills to save Fen’s life.At first, Fen repays Cai’s kindness by attacking every Christian within reach. But as time passes, Cai’s persistent goodness touches his heart. And Cai, who had thought he would never love again, feels the stirring of a profound new attraction.Yet old loyalties call Fen back to his tribe and a relentless quest to find the ancient secret of Fara—a powerful talisman that could render the Vikings indestructible, and tear the two lovers’ bonds beyond healing. Warning: contains battles, bloodshed, explicit M/M sex, and the proper Latin term for what lies beneath those cassocks.
The Archer's Heart, Book One
Astrid Amara - 2008
For generations the rule of Marhavad’s kings has been absolute. But now the line of succession is divided, and whispers of revolution are heard in even the royal palace.Keshan Adaru, an outspoken man of unearthly charms, welcomes these changes. All his life he has foreseen an uprising that will shatter the castes and end the tyranny of the old laws. His visions have driven him but now, at the brink of their fulfillment, he finds himself obsessed with Prince Jandu Paran– a man whose entire family must be destroyed if the kingdom is to be freed.Tarek Amia would gladly see Jandu Paran brought low. Born the son of a charioteer, Tarek has no love for the royal princes who have slighted and insulted him all his life. Only Keshan’s philosophies have elevated him from the brutal ranks of common soldiers. Tarek owes Keshan his devotion, but he is a pragmatic man and when he discovers Keshan’s reckless affair he realizes that Keshan may have to be sacrificed for the sake of his own revolution.Young Prince Jandu Paran has never concerned himself with court intrigue. His life has been dedicated to the lordly art of archery and mastering the immense powers of the shartas. Handsome and arrogant, he is sure that no man can surpass him and yet Keshan Adaru’s mere touch brings Jandu to his knees. But his desire for Keshan is more than forbidden; it threatens to destroy Jandu’s pride, position and family. In the midst of this turmoil, an unspeakable event forces Jandu to redefine the meaning of honor and loyalty.And now, as armies arise to war, each man must decide where his allegiance lies and what he will sacrifice in his heart and on the battlefield.
Salt Magic, Skin Magic
Lee Welch - 2018
There are no bars or chains; he simply can’t leave. His sanity is starting to fray. When industrial magician John Blake arrives to investigate a case of witchcraft, he finds the peculiar, arrogant Thornby as alarming as he is attractive. John soon finds himself caught up in a dark fairytale, where all the rules of magic—and love—are changed. To set Thornby free, both men must face life-changing truths—and John must accept that the brave, witty man who’s winning his heart may also be about to break it. Can they escape a web of magic that’s as perilous as love?
Foxy Mates
Jacki James - 2019
He plans to spend the summer before school starts making Copper Creek home. He doesn't expect to meet his mate the first week he's there, and he sure doesn't expect to find himself in the middle of a shifter rescue operation when a young rabbit shifter is taken hostage. This 9000-word short story was previously offered as part of a group short story giveaway and remains unchanged. A Copper Creek Shifters Short.
Dragon Slayer
Isabella Carter - 2013
He cannot use a sword, he faints at the sight of blood, and even his brilliant abilities as a strategist are not enough to overcome his failings. When his father loses a bet to the notorious Lord Mallory over the matter of a dragon slaying, he pays his debt by ordering Ingram to marry him.Then his father reveals that he is putting Ingram to a greater purpose, giving Ingram one last chance to prove he is not worthless. All it requires is betraying his new husband.
Blind Tiger
Jordan L. Hawk - 2021
Prohibition is in full swing and gang bosses rule the city with might—and magic.When Sam Cunningham flees his small-town life to try his luck in the big city of Chicago, he quickly finds himself in over his head in a world of gangs, glitz, and glamour. Fortunately, he has his cousin Eldon to teach him the trade of hex-making.Everything changes the night Sam visits The Pride speakeasy and meets grumpy cheetah-shifter Alistair Gatti. After losing his first witch to the horrors of the World War, Alistair isn’t interested in any new entanglements, romantic or magical. Especially when said entanglement comes in the form of kind, innocent Sam.When Eldon is brutally murdered, Sam becomes drawn into the dark underworld of the Chicago gangs. Sam must find the missing hex Eldon created for one of the crime bosses—before whoever killed Eldon comes back for him.Together, Alistair and Sam begin the search for the mysterious hex, diving deep into the seedy side of Chicago’s underworld while dodging rival gangs. And as they come to rely on one another, Alistair realizes he’s falling for the one man he can’t afford to love.