In Awe


Scott Heim - 1997
    Mourning the recent death of her best friend, Marshall, Sarah tries to find comfort in the countless horror movies she loves. Harriet, Marshall's mother, grieves by immersing herself in the serenity of her farm. Then there is Boris. A sixteen-year-old orphan with dreams of writing the ultimate zombie novel, he spends his nights sneaking away from a youth home and his days dreaming of Rex, a beautiful but savage classmate. It is this fascination that sets in motion a violent chain of events that ultimately tests the boundaries of the three misfits' obsessions and leads the novel to its brutal and startling conclusion. "Nimble, alarming, complex, and lushly written."-- "New York Post""Elegantly written."-- "Time Out New York""[Heim] teases out the pleasures of cruelty in language that scalpels one minute, unfurls lushly the next." "Village Voice""Grand, uncanny, horrific and sweet. . . . Those who give themselves to it will be haunted."-- "Lambda Book Report""Unforgettable. . . . Quite simply, In Awe is awesome: inordinately powerful and alarming, terrifying and breathtaking. A transcendent, bittersweet novel of obsession and pain, love and loathing, memory and desire. Heim is testing the limits of his dynamic, raw vision."- "Kansas City Star""The ripple of danger beneath the surface of Scott Heim's In Awe should serve as a warning to anyone expecting a casual ride: this is a book that means to take you places. A patina of malevolence overhangs Heim's Kansas, and even the quietest moments can have the most terrifying consequences for his trio ofmisfits, Boris, Sarah, and Harriet. The story draws us forward toward its heart like the best of spiderwebs."--Jim Grimsley

Language Lessons


Jay Bell - 2011
    For Joey, he didn't care if it ever came at all. He was much too busy adding notches to his bedpost and preparing for life as an adult. But when a casual fling waxes nostalgic about the one that got away, Joey starts to wonder if he isn't missing something after all, if there really is something to be learned from the language of love.

Flaunt


E. Davies - 2017
    was supposed to give Nic Montero a fresh start. After escaping his family, coming out as a gay trans man, and excelling in computer programming out of desperation to get financially stable or die, everything should be easy. But joining gay culture now, post-transition, feels impossible... until he runs into the force of nature that is Kyle. Everything Nic isn't, Kyle embodies. Green hair, garters and cut-off shorts, sports jerseys, and all, brash Kyle is the most gorgeous man he's ever laid eyes on, and he pulls Nic headlong into the center of his world. If only Nic felt like enough for a man like Kyle. “One-night stands are my only option.” Loud, loving, and too much for most men to handle, Kyle Everett catches eyes and occasionally scorn... even at his job at the local HIV charity, Plus. His days and nights are spent at work, his precious spare moments spent with his son, Kevin, when it's his turn to co-parent, or his best friend, drag queen River. He only has money or time for cheap flings, but the lanky otter who walks into his life makes Kyle want to hold him for longer than a night. He knows what it's like for Nic to be without a family, but he isn't brave enough to let this man into his life... until his charity is targeted by bigots, and Nic's there for him. “I'll stay with you if you're brave enough to be you.” Nic spent his twenties avoiding family and even his own femininity, but his yearning is impossible to ignore. Kyle's used to flying solo, but Nic offers him safety and fills gaps in his life he never realized existed and now can't stand. Living in close proximity, they can't run from their attraction, but they're each used to being rejected, with the emotional scars to prove it. Can two men who feel like they're not enough and too much find something just right? Flaunt is a standalone gay romance novel with a happily ever after ending.

The Family of Max Desir


Robert Ferro - 1983
    From the back cover copy:Max Desir loved his Italian-American family--even after his iron-willed father exiled him from its intimate innner circle.Max Desir loved his lover, Nick, with whom he openly took up life first amid the enchantment of Rome, then amid the realities of New York.Two loves so deeply felt--in a man so painfully divided...

Simple Men


Eric Arvin - 2010
    He goes out drinking with his colleagues, gets along well with his players, and dates all the prettiest women in town-he has the life most straight men dream of. But lately none of the women he dates seem to be igniting any passion in him. Then he meets the new school chaplain, Foster Lewis. Romantic attraction to another man is new and terrifying, and Chip just can't put his finger on why he's drawn to Foster, but it's stronger than anything he's felt for anyone in his life. Never one to back down from a challenge, Chip decides to go for it. But love is never simple, and sometimes it's a downright mess!

The Boy


Naeem Murr - 1998
    The boy's compelling and protean personality (he is Devon to the keepers of the Boys' Home, Alex to the Fatman with whom he lives, Priestly to the young rent-boy who reveres him, and Durwood to Sean's daughter) arches over this disturbing novel and is mirrored in the lives of all the people Sean encounters. From these different perspectives we witness the boy's many incarnations, which reflect, aggravate, and distort the desires of those around him, involving these characters irrevocably in his own mysterious intentions. The boy keeps just beyond Sean's reach, then draws him into a final encounter that is both poignant and brutal. This first novel is a penetrating study of innocence and malice ineluctably bound. With his protean sexuality and personality, the boy insinuates himself into the lives of those he encounters. We witness how he feeds their deepest desires, nourishes their greatest needs, and involves them irrevocably in his own intentions. Winner of the Lambda Literary Foundation's Editors' Choice Award for 1998!

Dark Reflections


Samuel R. Delany - 2007
    Dark Reflections traces Hawley's life in three sections — in reverse order. Part one: Hawley, at 50 years old, wins the an award for his sixth book of poems. Part two explores Hawley's unhappy marriage, while the final section recalls his college days. Dark Reflections, moving back and forth in time, creates an extraordinary meditation on social attitudes, loneliness, and life's triumphs.

Love Love And Love (Flamingo Original)


Sandra Bernhard - 1993
    The book gives readers a whole new set of subjects to see through her sophisticated, sardonic eyes. Sandra Bernhard is the author of Confessions of a Pretty Lady.

Be True


Stella Starling - 2017
    And jetting off to New York City to play the part of reclusive billionaire Logan Carter's boyfriend for a Valentine's Day publicity campaign? That's not just a yes, but oh hell yes.When Logan Carter's business partner, the founder of the popular dating app bLoved, starts receiving death threats and has to stay out of the public eye, Logan is thrust into the limelight. The only problem? Logan doesn't do public. He also learned the hard way never to mix business with pleasure... no matter how tempting someone like Trevor might make it.Trevor doesn't want to be tied down, and Logan isn't interested in opening up… but if falling in love is all just an act, why does saying “I love you” start to feel so real?Be True is a gay romance novel of approximately 93,000 words that contains a bossy billionaire, a failed attempt at an utterly impossible sex position, and two men who are destined to discover that the love neither wanted is exactly what each of them needs. It has a Happily Ever After ending, no pesky cliffhangers, and can be read as a standalone… but if you enjoy Trevor and Logan’s story, be sure to keep an eye out for the other two books in the series! Enjoy!

Wild Surmise


Dorothy Porter - 2002
    Meanwhile, her husband Daniel mourns the demise of his marriage and his life.Full of Dorothy Porter's customary bite and sensuality, Wild Surmise is an engrossing duet between two passionately estranged voices. An intensely moving verse novel of passions and vulnerabilities, love and death.

The Night We Met


Rob Byrnes - 2002
    He has yet to become the literary voice of his generation. And he most definitely has not met Mr. Right. Now, stuck in a dead-end publishing job, and nursing a broken heart, Andrew is resigned to a life of anti-fabulousness...until the night he meets dark, hunky Frank DeBenedetto. With his confident way of taking care of things and his shy demeanor in the bedroom, Frank wins Andrew over. But problems arise when Frank turns out to be the son of the Maria's top boss, and he's engaged to Anna Franco -- daughter of "Crazy Tommy" Franco -- a woman who does not take to catching her fiance in the act of becoming a "made man."Suddenly, Andrew's once-boring life is heating up with enough action to fuel ten novels...if only he can keep his very cute butt intact and his man from ending up on a Most Wanted poster. From a couple of "sensitivity-trained" cops to a persistent FBI agent...from guys with nicknames that all have to do with pain to a Mafia princess whose hair is nearly as big as her mouth...from ex-lovers, drag queens, and suspicious doormen to a cast of other characters as zany as New York itself, "The Night We Met" is a frantic, nonstop, madcap romp through a wild romance no reader will be able to refuse.

A Place I've Never Been


David Leavitt - 1990
    Each of the stories illuminates a dark corner of human existance. Some are amusing and some are tragic. The author also wrote "Family Dancing", "The Lost Language of Cranes" and "Equal Affections".Contents:A place I've never been --Spouse night --My marriage to vengeance --Ayor --Gravity --Houses --When you grow to adultery --I see London, I see France --Chips is here --Roads to Rome.

Caught Running


Madeleine Urban - 2007
    When Brandon is thrown into a coaching job on Jake's baseball team, they find themselves learning more about each other than they'd ever expected.High school is all about image, even for the teachers. Brandon and Jake have to get past their preconceived notions to find the friendship needed to work together. And somewhere along the way, they discover that perceptions can always change for the better. Read a full chapter excerpt at www.dreamspinnerpress.com

Tabloid Star


T.A. Chase - 2009
    Working three jobs, however, makes it hard to connect with anyone. One man, though, is too much temptation to resist. A steamy encounter in a back alley leads to an explosive night of sex in Josh s bed a bed he isn't surprised to find empty the next morning.What does surprise him, though, is the front page of a tabloid. Apparently his one-night stand isn't as anonymous as he thought it was.Ryan Kellar's career is taking off. Advance buzz about his movie says it's a blockbuster, and going home with the gorgeous bartender is the perfect way to celebrate. And he thought he'd gotten away clean until the picture in the paper shocks him into reality. Was Josh really just playing or playing him for a fool?Trust isn't big on their list right now, but as their worlds fall apart, it's all they have. At least until they figure out who took the picture. And why "

Mr. and Mr. Smith


HelenKay Dimon - 2016
    As a covert paramilitary operative, his job—and his life—depends on it. He’s at the top of his game, ready for action and always in control. No enemy has ever brought him to his knees, but one lover has: Zachary Allen, the man currently sharing his bed. The perfect package of brains and brawn, Zach is someone worth coming home to, and Fisher hates keeping him in the dark about what he does. But the lies keep Zach safe. Until the day Fisher loses everything. . . .   Zachary Allen is no innocent civilian. Although he plays the tech geek, in reality he’s deep undercover for the CIA. In a horrible twist of fate, the criminal enterprise he’s infiltrated has set its sights on the man whose touch drives him wild. Zach would do anything for Fisher—except blow his own cover. Now, in order to save him, Zach must betray him first. And he needs Fisher to trust him with all his heart if they want to make it out alive.  Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.