So, when Jimmy sees an elderly man wearing a collar standing in the middle of the park and apparently in some sort of trouble, he approaches him and offers the guy his help.All isn’t as it first appears. Maybe it’s Jimmy whose about to get the help he needs.This short story was first published in Kim Dare’s newsletter in June 2011. The inspiration image was chosen by Chris of Stumbling Over Chaos website.

    James starts his junior year of high school without any friends in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. When he meets Kevin Vincent, he’s too distracted by the promise of new friends to see that Kevin has secrets of his own. Having created an environment where he's feared and admired by his classmates, Kevin finds pleasure in using his good looks and violence to control and manipulate those around him. Secretly, he cruises the gay club scene, turning tricks to earn money so he can party and get high. As Rick’s dad becomes increasingly violent and abusive at home, the two form a surprising and volatile trust. In this battle of wills, their precarious friendship will either keep their lives from blowing up around them or possibly light the fuse that will cause the explosion.

    Faced with the possibility of being left behind, Jesse vows to care for her young son, though he’s not convinced he can.When Trip Cantrell returns to town, he’s blindsided the instant he’s reunited with his kid brother’s lifelong friend, Jesse. His inability to find happiness in the years he’s been gone, suddenly makes sense. Love’s been waiting at home all along.Life begins to look promising, except for the fact that neither have come out of the closet publicly, and that’s not even their biggest problem. Someone has a secret so shocking they may never find a way past it.Will they be accepted in their small Texas town, or will secrets, lies, and the threat of tragedy destroy everything?

    Leather Competition. There Chase revisits a world of hot, casual sex that he had forgotten existed, meets a friend who cares more for him than he ever realized, and discovers the possibility that he just might be able to move on without betraying the memory of his late partner. Will Chase find his way back once more to life? To love? And will he find that place he's been missing? Home. You'll have to experience the heartrending journey firsthand to find out.

    In a bid to escape his pain, Jonah moved halfway across the country to start over. Now, his mother’s death brings him home where he will discover a shared passion with his childhood best friend. Neil Brogan returns home hoping to reconnect with Jonah and ends up with more than he ever thought possible. They live on opposite sides of the country but the distance between them may be more than mere miles. Neil hopes to convince Jonah that some rules are made to be broken.

    As he goes about his daily life avoiding friends and relationships, he has no idea that someone has been watching him-someone who has decided that there is more to Jason than meets the eye.Kaden Jamieson is an investigative researcher with an excellent reputation, a talent for hacking into computers, and a client who has just asked him to find proof that her brother did not commit suicide. Now armed with suspicions that there may be a homophobic serial killer on the loose amid the ranks in the North Bay police precinct, Jamieson decides there is only one person who can help him-Detective Steele. But when Jamieson approaches Steele with the idea that they pretend to be boyfriends in an effort to lure the bloodthirsty culprit into their trap, he unwittingly opens a can of worms that causes hard-hearted Steele to question everything he has ever known or believed about himself.In this gripping thriller, a seasoned police detective must learn to trust a man he barely knows with his life in order to catch a determined killer on a deadly mission.

    When her black-sheep grandson, Adam Prescott, turns up on the doorstep, Ben has to take in the stray human as well. Adam, hurting and betrayed by family, boyfriend and Fate, needs to have his faith in others restored, and Ben decides he is the one to do it.Having gone through an acrimonious split with his boyfriend, Adam has no home, no money, no job and nowhere to go, except his grandmother's house. The son of an abusive, violent father, there's a lot of anger and resentment in him, demons he must exorcise. When he learns an unpleasant truth about his father, Ben helps him come to terms with it, and to find a new direction for his life - together, Ben hopes. But then Adam's ex-boyfriend shows up, offering him the world on a platter if only Adam will come back to him.Christmas may not be a time of celebration for Ben.

    Mostly. Other days life seems a little much. Especially when Nick knows he’ll always be alone. On those days his thoughts turn black. He walks the Norfolk coast and considers the frigid embrace of the waves. And then, one stormy night, he finds someone who’s tasted just that. The beautiful stranger on the beach is near death, and Nick rushes him home to slowly nurse back to health. As he does, he finds a love unlike any other. Owen Butler’s body is as warm as the sea was cold, his heart as big as an ocean. And Owen is a man who swears to repay the favor. Nick can yet be saved from himself, and he will see that he is indeed a man ... worth keeping.

    Bradford Mitchell tries to escape the emptiness and loss by leaving his life in Seattle behind. Traveling to the Alaskan mountains where he and Jeff often vacationed, Brad reconnects with Mac Cleary, the ruggedly handsome and very straight floatplane pilot who had flown them to Hyline Lake many times in the past. Brad and Mac form an unlikely friendship and buy an old log cabin together, and as he and Mac begin to bring the old cabin back to life, Mac watches Brad come back to life as well, stirring emotions in him he’s never felt for a man before. When fear, confusion, and a near tragedy threaten to force the two men apart, they’ll face some tough questions. Can Brad let go of Jeff and the guilt he feels about beginning to care for another man? And can Mac deal with his fears of being gay and accept the fact that he is in love with Brad? It will be a struggle for both men to keep their heads and hearts intact while exploring what life has to offer.

    His desire for success has left him without a single happy memory, and completely alone.While shocked by the news, he stumbles into Nino: a man without a steady job, without a permanent home and, as happy as a person can be. On the spur of the moment they set off to an adventure by the sea, with good food, loads of sun, and rising attraction. Only both hide secrets from each other as they fight against the sparks that keep on lighting the flames.They set out for some fun, but found the adventure of both of their lives...Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices.

    Jake Marsden has been going to a local anxiety support group meeting for months. He’s made some progress, but it's a slow, frustrating journey. Then a shy glance from a gorgeous newcomer across the room promises to make him forget about his problems for a while. He worries that dating will be a challenge until he can deal with his fear, but there's no way he can pass up the opportunity to get to know this man. Chance Ritter doesn't want to go to the group, but his best friend and college classmate drags him there for his own good. When the handsome, dark-haired man across the circle stands and talks, Chance can barely look away. He daydreams of something he doesn’t believe he’ll ever have because he’s afraid to take that kind of a risk. Drawn together from the moment their gazes lock, they may be able to overcome the past and take a chance on each other. Taking Chances is a full-length, stand-alone contemporary gay romance novel with two gorgeous, anxious college students, a stuffed dinosaur, a shockingly ugly truck, and a guaranteed happy ending. (Warning: There are references to past violence in this story, though none occurs during the course of the book.)

    He no longer has the energy to deal with mean classmates, inner doubt, and fear of familial rejection, so he takes a razor to his wrist. When he wakes up in the hospital, Shiloh meets Travis Kahn, the EMT who saved him and didn’t leave his side.Travis is handsome, smart, and funny—the type of guy Shiloh would never be brave enough to approach. But his near-death experience has an unusual side effect: the life that flashed before his eyes wasn’t the one he had already lived, but rather the one he could live. With visions of a future by Travis’s side, Shiloh will find the strength to confront his fears and build a life worth fighting for.Word Count: 18,388Edition: 2ndA story from the Dreamspinner Press 2013 Advent Calendar collection Heartwarming.

    But circumstances force him to face his painful past and the friend who betrayed him.Andrew Finley has no intention of going back to his hometown—ever. After he gets caught hacking the CIA, he builds himself a new life as a computer guy for the very government agency he tried to hack. But over the past few months something has been bothering him, and his boss is acting more paranoid than usual. Every time an operation failed, Andrew collected information that could prove someone was selling secrets and now he's pretty sure his boss is trying to kill him, so he has no choice but to go back home to buy some time. Going home may be more dangerous than facing his boss, though, considering his former best friend and first crush Teddy had betrayed him and let his evil sister and her minions send him running nine years ago.But he's back now and not everything is as clear-cut as he thought. Teddy may not be a Judas but can Andrew catch his fireman without getting burned, or is coming home going to kill him?One corrupt boss, one evil sister, enough family drama to fill a dozen daytime chat shows and an ex-best friend who he's been in love with for half his life makes for one hell an interesting trip home.

    Now, existing in a new life as Jacob Somerville, he’s again running from fear and memories, only to end up where he started. As Jacob struggles to reconnect with his father and brothers, he realizes that his lover, Craig Zhao, was the only thing filling his empty heart and standing between him and ghosts of the past. It will take the power of love—from his family, from Craig, and from himself—for Jacob to see that his life truly is filled with the promise of what can be.

    This particular coyote is even more problematic when it turns out to be the younger brother of a close friend. In this story by James Buchanan, not everything is as it appears in this Coyote Crossing, especially when the leader of the pack winds up with his head bashed in. Josh Lanyon entertains readers with In A Dark Wood. Being lost in the woods isn't a fun first date, especially when the forrest is the very one in which a teenage boy finds a human skull. Escaping your past is hard when you're a former porn star. In L. Picaro's Gamble Everything one man is trying to do just that, but someone else is intent on making him remember all that he'd rather forget.