After years of isolation and secrets, he's unprepared for the feelings that Eric Atherton awakens in him. While Eric recuperates, the two men grow closer, and it doesn’t take long for Boaz to begin to question whether his reasons for remaining alone are good enough. But Eric has secrets of his own, ones that bring grave danger, and could end what has been building between them, maybe their very lives. For the men to know if they have a chance together, they'll have to brave their fears and face demons from the past. In the lonely and vast ocean waters of Alaska, the two men only have themselves to rely on. Can either man trust the other enough to survive the coming storm? Or will Boaz's one chance for love be over before it even began?Genre: action/suspense/adventureTags: first time, masturbation, past abuse, strong HFN, Alaska, series, isolation, boatsContent Warnings: allusions to childhood abuseThis story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" 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. This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.The original prompt:Dear Author,I found him in the edge of the surf one morning, on one of my many solitary treks down the beach. Naked, battered, unconscious— just another bit of discarded flotsam on the sand.Who is he? How did he get here? Is he telling me the truth? Can I trust him at all? Can I help him— or can he help me? Or maybe we can even save each other…Photo Description: A muscular, dark-haired man lies prone on a sandy beach, waves frothing and swirling around him. He is naked save for a tiny bikini or underwear that is barely clinging to the round globes of his backside. He also has on a small, dark, braided bracelet. If not for a mound of sand beneath his head, his face would be immersed in the water. He appears to be unconscious.

    He approaches Edward Marsden, Viscount Routhsley, a known playboy and philanthropist, about sponsorship for his charity. To his surprise, Edward isn’t the shallow pleasure-seeker everyone assumes, and he and Edward share many interests. Little by little, they are drawn together in spite of the different worlds they come from.But for two men in the public eye, happiness won’t be so easily achieved. Edward fears coming out as gay will shift attention from his charity work, and Jack worries his relationship with the aristocrat will undermine the integrity of his foundation. They come under intense scrutiny, leading to an inevitable clash between Jack and the press who won’t stop harassing them. As what they’ve built comes crashing down, Jack and Edward must make a choice: continue presenting the facade the public expects, or expose the private truths in their hearts so they can be together.

    Then one day, when they were twenty-five, Adam disappeared without a word, devastating his friends-none more so than Jake, who had secretly loved Adam since they were teenagers.Now, five years later, Adam is back, and he has his mind set on Jake. But those years of anger, hurt, and confusion are a lot to overcome, and Jake doesn't find it easy to forgive. He isn't sure they'll ever fit together the way they did. Jake, Kyle, and Brendan have moved on with their lives, but Adam's high-profile career keeps him in the closet-the same place he's been for years. Still, his apologies seem sincere, and the attraction is still there. Jake desperately wants to give him a chance. But first he has to find out why Adam left and if he's really back for good.

    Scott, a modern arts curator at a museum in Chicago, relishes the finer things in life. Julian is a strange photographer whose hair color changes as frequently as his mood. As far as Scott can see, Julian is an erratic know-it-all who lives his life one day to the next. To Julian, Scott is an uptight, too-coiffed perfectionist.As the two men continue to run into each other, their dislike grows, but beneath that animosity, a fire is beginning to spark. Scott is baffled when he realizes he is falling for Julian, a man who burns hotter than a wildfire. Scott will have to decide, for the first time in his life, if he’ll let the flames take over.

    In short order, his boyfriend leaves him behind, making it clear he’s not inclined to deal with special needs. Reeling from the blow, Josh flounders. In an attempt to help, Josh’s friends take him to a camp for the blind, where he falls for the camp organizer, Charlie Cooper. Charlie seems to feel the attraction too, but when a horse named Dottie pushes them into a hot first kiss, Charlie resists. He believes he’s damaged goods, not boyfriend material. Since the accident, Josh has faced tough obstacles, but the most challenging hurdle of all may be getting Charlie to open up and take a chance on love.

    He's finally pissed off Jonah, the sweet, patient, funny boyfriend he's loved as long as he can remember, to the point that Jonah isn't even speaking to him. Emerson hasn’t felt this awful since the summer after graduation when Jonah ruined their college plans by running off on a cross-country trip without even saying goodbye. Jonah isn't just angry. He's furious and hurt. Devastated, even, because he's completely in love with Emerson, but although they've been together for a year, Emerson still doesn't trust him. The full weight of their past mistakes drags Jonah and Emerson into memories of happier—and lonelier—times, but wallowing in their guilt isn't solving the problems. The only way to move forward is to learn from the past… but someone still has to be the first to apologize.

    At an early age, he learned to shut down all of his emotions and focus solely on survival. As it turned out, survival came in the form of a basketball scholarship with the University of Kentucky Wildcats. As the rest of the team around him focuses on having a good time and building friendships, Jagger worries only about using his talent to help him escape the life that was dealt to him. Everything is going smoothly until somebody from his past makes a reappearance, and with just the mention of a name, Jagger finds himself struggling to maintain his cool facade.Colton Montgomery’s wealth allowed him the opportunity to have just about anything in the world he could desire…except the only thing he’d ever really wanted – Jagger Jameson. When the opportunity to try and tame a Wildcat comes his way, Colton welcomes the challenge.

    Naim Moreau’s life, the last thing he expected was to lose his heart! But he can’t resist his quiet, mysterious doctor, nor does he want to. He wants to make a life with Naim—preferably locked away in his apartment worshiping each other like they were meant to be. Because they are.Things aren’t as clear for Naim. His past haunts him to his soul, and he would rather die than let Deck seem him the way he sees himself. Being honest with Deck and showing his true face could cause him to lose Deck forever. But is it possible that just maybe Deck will see another man? A beautiful man? And what price is Naim willing to pay to take that chance?

    Everyone in Bingwell, Brock, and Bacon says so, and after Ethan’s first encounter with the man, he agrees. Ethan resolves to avoid James but ends up working closely with him and discovers the lawyer's hiding a secret from the world. Ethan also realizes he's falling too hard too fast. Ethan has to decide if he should help James and risk getting entangled in the mess James has gotten himself into, or move on. But walking away from love is never a simple decision to make.

    He spends his days on the run and his nights in another world with a man he’s only ever dreamed about. To sleep is to feel his dream man’s hands on his body and hear wicked whispered words. But when the sun rises reality crashes in. The evil that destroyed his birth pack hunts his kind down in search of a way to control their power. To take the light.Merek Wahya is an alpha dealing with the issues of being newly appointed, but those all falls away when he closes his eyes at night. A man with moonlit hair and mercury eyes crawls into bed with him. When he wakes it’s to a painful arousal no one can satisfy. He soon learns their nocturnal meetings were foreplay for a passionate face-to-face encounter.When Merek’s wolf catches Jace’s scent he knows he’s found his mate The joy of this discovery is shadowed by the trouble that follows Jace. His mate is embroiled in a battle between two ancient packs. A war Merek must now fight and if he fails he could lose his mate forever.

    He dropped out of school to help run the failing family restaurant, and ever since he’s put up with his difficult business partner, who also happens to be his father. And, of course, he keeps his sexual orientation a secret from his conservative Russian family. After being closeted costs him his first serious relationship, Pasha resigns himself to one-night stands and loneliness.But after a chance encounter with lost delivery truck driver, Daniel Englewood, Pasha starts to question all of his assumptions about life. Daniel is sweet, funny, smart, drop-dead gorgeous—and for the last six years, he’s been living with HIV. Pasha worries that he won’t be strong enough to help Daniel if HIV turns to AIDS, but he can’t walk away from their deepening attraction. He also doesn’t know if he can be strong enough to face the hardest task that a relationship with Daniel demands: coming out to his family and friends, and risking losing everything else he holds dear.

    Little did they know that sometimes it better to deal with the Devil himself than his Advocate. The World quickly learned that the only currency the Advocate wallowed in was red – the color of vengeance. In the end it was true, the ‘Devil’ was dead. An innocent man wore the face of someone who wandered the darker underbelly of life and made the shadows cringe. Trevor was a good Catholic boy who shared groceries with his elderly neighbors; walked their pets; worked an honest job and tried to write the next great novel as he made his way in the world. The problem now was that dark world found out that Trevor was still alive. Would the Devil’s Advocate be enough to protect the innocent or would Erik use this chance to revive the Devil of his dreams?Pb is 263 pages

    Dixon Rowe is a good man and a good cop who keeps finding himself in bed with the enemy. After he picks up a young ex-con named Jaye Larson for stealing food, Dixon is seduced by the possibility of helping someone truly in need. He tells himself he’s assisting young Jaye out of the goodness of his heart—not because of how sexy Jaye is under all of the tattoos and defiance. But temptation entangles them as the malicious ghosts of Jaye's past returns to haunt their every step. Jaye’s ghosts are bad enough, but the demon from Dixon's past is real enough to put both of their lives in danger. (M/M)

    It is his birthright and destiny. But Henry only truly desires the one thing he cannot have…time to spend with his lover, Archie Banks. Archie is his childhood friend turned driver, bodyguard and dirty little secret. Circumstances make it difficult for them to sneak moments together – something that will become impossible once Archie moves on after he graduates from college.They fear the uncertain future, and what will become of their blossoming feelings - but nothing prepares them for the danger and disaster about to overwhelm their lives. A shocking kidnapping leads to tragedy and suddenly Henry and Archie are thrust into a dramatic fight against an unknown enemy. They must fight not only be together, but to also save the company Henry has been groomed to run his entire life.

    Once there, he finds that not even the beauty of the island can fill the hole in his heart. Broke and spent in nearly every way imaginable, Niall wants out of the lonely, miserable, guilt-ridden life he's carved out for himself.When Ethan Bettencourt, a wealthy tech guru, shows up in British Virgin Islands looking to purchase a second home, he gives Niall hope that he can move on. Both men fall hard and fast, but Niall finds piloting his yacht in the midst of a hurricane is nothing compared to weathering life's simple misunderstandings. As their troubles come between them, Niall is left to wonder if he and Ethan are over before they've begun.