One rainy night, Taylor turns up soaking wet on Daren’s doorstep with a confession hovering on his lips. The confession changes both their lives.Original Prompt:Dear Author,A rainy night brought him to me. Now, he sits nude, (wrapped in the smallest blanket I found) nursing a brandy and telling me his life story. Which I'm not really listening to, since I'm busy planning the way to make this straight buddy bend for me—or vice versa, I really don't care, as long as we end up tangled and satisfied. Please, don't think I'm a selfish jerk, because my crush on him is epic.Photo Description: A close-up of a man with long curly hair standing in the rain.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 here or find it in Love Is Always Write: Volume 3.

    It’ll be a problem for his big, fat Italian family. Still, after three failed marriages, it’s getting harder to ignore what he really wants.Vinnie attempts some self-exploration in Chicago’s Boystown bars, far from anyone who knows him. Naturally, he runs smack into someone from the neighborhood.Between working two jobs, going to school, taking care of his grandmother, and dealing with his mother’s ongoing substance abuse, Trey Giles has little time for fun, let alone dating someone who swears he’s straight. Yet after one night of dancing cheek-to-cheek, Trey agrees to let Vinnie court him and see if he truly belongs on this side of the fence—though Trey intends to keep his virginity intact.It seems like a solid plan, but nothing is simple when family is involved. When Vinnie’s family finds out about their relationship, the situation is sticky enough, but when Trey’s mother goes critical, Vinnie and Trey must decide whose happiness is most important—their families’ or their own.Second Edition.First Edition published by Samhain, 2013.

    Figuratively speaking, at least.Enter Sonny Valentine, a go-go dancer at Blue's sister club, Silver's. Levi has secretly admired Sonny from afar for years, but there's one problem–he can't stand Sonny and the feeling is entirely mutual. When Levi learns Sonny is to play the third part in a scene he considers his worst nightmare, he figures things can't get any worse.But when preparations for the scene from hell collide with tragic events in his personal life, he finds his fast growing, red hot attraction to Sonny the one thing left between him and a bullet.

    Yet loneliness is a battle he fights along with his long-time addiction to drugs and alcohol. He beat those latter demons three years ago with the aid of his best friend, Hawk McLeod, a doctor who runs a clinic on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico. But when it comes to the loneliness, it’s still a daily struggle for Rod. He’s been in love with Hawk for years, but the timing had never been right for turning their friendship into something deeper and more serious.Hawk is the person Rod calls in the middle of the night, no matter where he is or what he’s done, and Hawk’s always there for him. Now, when Hawk faces a life-changing crisis and needs him the most, Rod will drop everything to support the man he loves, hoping to show him how perfect they are for each other...Genres: Gay / Contemporary / The Arts / Interracial / Multicultural

    Instead his pregnant sister talks him into a job babysitting the volatile megastar Nigel Gasp. Nigel is stubborn, needy, and determined to be the center of attention everywhere he goes. Before long, Jeff realizes that something is bothering Gasp, and that keeping him out of trouble might be more difficult than he thought.Nigel never planned on getting old. He simply assumed a hard drinking, hard partying lifestyle would take care of that. Now that he's turning forty, he's depressed and a little bit desperate. To Nigel, forty seems like a fine age to deposit his DNA and check out while he's still on top.The last thing Jeff needs is to fall in love with Nigel Gasp. The last thing Nigel expects is a whole new reason to live. But how can Jeff put down roots with a man who is never in the same place twice?Love can be shocking. Gasp!

    Just imagine if you had a chance to meet him and all your fantasies started coming true. There's only one catch: Between you and your dream guy is his less-than-pleased boyfriend. They say that love conquers all, but can love conquer love?Like and Subscribe is a new short story by Jay Bell, the author of Something Like Summer.

    Growing up with a cold, unfeeling father and unstable mother has taught him exactly what he doesn’t want out of life or love. The troubled young man prefers a solitary life and is content to keep it that way until a campus emergency saddles him with an unwanted roommate.Popular, wholesome, straight Nick Thompson is far more temptation than Eric’s prepared for, but Nick’s warm, easygoing manner gradually cracks through Eric’s prickly protective shell.After Eric suffers a traumatic attack, their friendship gives way to an intense passion. Eric’s no stranger to casual sex, but what he feels for Nick is something deeper, and more fragile.Independent Eric doesn't know the first thing about being in a relationship, much less with a lover who can't even admit he's gay. But conservative Nick can't seem to find his way out of his own personal closet. 'Rock', meet 'Hard-Place'.

    He has a weakness for devastatingly clever jerks, so despite his looming thesis, Jeremy decides to pay the famous special collection—and its curator—a visit. But instead of an intimidating beast of a librarian, he finds the librarian’s soft-spoken assistant, Benj.Quiet, shy, guys with pretty eyes and handmade cardigans are not Jeremy’s type. Jeremy is too smart, and weird, for anyone so sweet. He’d walk all over them or find them boring after five minutes. Which doesn’t explain why he keeps coming back to the library, despite never once encountering the notoriously protective special collections librarian. Perhaps if he weren’t so distracted by Benj’s surprisingly impressive shoulders and the absolutely charming library he runs, he would notice there’s more to Benj than knitted sweaters.

    Like hundreds Jonathan Wright had seen and hundreds more he'd ignored. He hadn't intended to watch it, but he gives in to his curiosity. When he sees the lithe, blond young man who's doing naughty things with a bearish, older man, he's seduced... and feels like a pervert afterward. The youth in the video seems a little too young, despite the fact he runs his own escort service. Worse yet, Jon gets the nagging feeling he's seen "Justin Time," aka precious_boy, before. When Jon takes a chance and meets Justin in a Chicago hotel room, Jon's past, present, and possibly his future begin to converge in alarming and confusing ways. There's no escaping the resulting dilemma: Jon must decide just how involved he wants to get with a sweet kid whose life has turned sour... a decision made more complex by a surprising connection to a lover from Jon's past.

    Besides, he's much too busy with his band, the Wayward Sons, to go looking for romance. His reticence has nothing to do with his embarrassing crush on Chris, the band's lead singer and Jake's erstwhile best friend. But that was before enigmatic wanderer Parker McAvoy signed on as the band's new lead guitarist.He can only deny his attraction to sweet, dorky Parker for so long before the urge to do something about it becomes impossible to ignore. The trouble is, Parker knows all about Jake's philandering ways—and oh, yeah, he's not gay. Or so Jake thinks until a string of related events provides encouraging new insight. Can he convince Parker to overlook his colorful past and give him a chance? Or will this love song fade out before it even begins?

    Liaisons series comes a scorchingly hot novel that blends humor, passion, and romance.What happens when these two worlds collide?Ace Locke is Hollywood’s hottest action hero. Women across the globe fling their panties in his direction, but Ace isn’t interested in those—he’s more of a boxer briefs kind of guy. Specifically, those of the nearly naked male model on a billboard he drives past every day.Though he recently made headlines for his public coming out, Ace is wary about pursuing a relationship, fearing what the court of public opinion will do to his career. But there’s something in the model’s expression that intrigues him and has him wondering what if?Dylan Prescott just scored his biggest modeling campaign yet. One that has him plastered all over L.A. in not much more than what he was born with. And when he’s cast in Ace’s latest blockbuster, it puts him in close proximity to his ultimate fantasy.Outwardly confident, Dylan has no problem with his sexuality or his pretty-boy looks, and uses both to his advantage to get what he wants. And what he wants is the impossible—Ace Locke.

    Thrown out of his home for being gay, he is left without money or, it seems, anywhere to go. Until a stranger shows him that some people do give a lot more than a damn.Ben Hamilton is a rookie cop in his small home town. He finds a young throwaway, fresh from the city, sleeping on a bench in the churchyard on a snowy Christmas Eve. Can he be the one to give Zachary his own Christmas miracle?* * * * *First published December 2010

    When his regular sitter moves away, he hires a live in nanny to give Nate more stability. Due to a mix up with the envelopes, it isn't the young woman he was expecting. Opening the door and finding six feet six of Jake Walsh on the stoop fills Parker with panic. Not that Jake wasn't perfect for the job; he was. A little too perfect. Which is why Parker had purposely decided to give the job to the other candidate. During his interview, Jake Walsh had awoken feelings in Parker that he had thought were gone forever. How was he going to cope with the man under his roof twenty-four-seven?Jake Walsh is a force of nature. Having worked at a day care until the tiny business folded, he's looking for something more secure, but doesn't expect to find it with his first interview. If he's honest, he didn't think he'd get it. Although he'd hit it off with Nate, Parker Adams was a whole different story. After the feeling they'd made an initial connection, Parker's demeanor had changed and Jake had been left with the impression he didn't have a chance-until the letter offering him the position dropped onto his doormat. Moving in with Parker and Nate seems like the perfect job, until he realises he's not only fallen in love with Nate, but Parker, too, and that it's nigh on impossible to compete with a ghost?

    Because of it, he can’t hold a job. Combined with some bad luck, it's prevented him from keeping steady employment. A huge debt looms over him, and alone he shoulders the care of his alcoholic mother and three younger sisters. When a housekeeping position opens, Jake’s so desperate he leaps at the opportunity. On landing, he finds his new boss, Patrick Stanford, a fussy, arrogant, rude… and blind man. Born without sight, Patrick is used to being accommodated, but he’s met his match with Jake, who doesn’t take any of his crap and threatens to swap all the braille labels on his groceries and run off with his guide dog unless he behaves. Jake gets a kick out of Patrick. Things are looking up: the girls are starting their own lives and his mum’s sobriety might stick this time. He’s sacrificed everything for his family; maybe it’s time for him to live his life and start a relationship with Patrick. When his mother needs him, guilt makes his choice between family and Patrick difficult, and Jake must realize he’s not alone anymore.

    Shy and uncomfortable with his height, he's always tried to blend in rather than stand out. When his former foster sister and best friend cons him into going on a singles' trip to Walt Disney World, Quinn is certain he will be miserable. Then he meets Josh.Being dumped by his high-maintenance boyfriend a couple of weeks before a trip to Disney World isn't what Josh Hart had planned, but he's determined not to let it get him down. Rebooked on a singles' trip, Josh intends to make the most of his first trip to an amusement park. On the first day, he meets shy, sexy Quinn, but the man is clueless about his own appeal.If Quinn wants to catch the man of his dreams, he'll have to be willing to risk the one thing he's never put on the line before—his heart.Genres: Gay / Contemporary