The cash injection is more than welcome, the long hours in the sticky, vanilla scented kitchen less so.A few days into the first tentative sparks of summer a shadowy Good Samaritan catches his eye. Vagrant Dex is a new face in town…a beautiful, sullen enigma, and yet with each busy day that passes, Seb finds himself becoming more and more attracted to the mysterious, young man.A young man who seems destined to become the heartbeat of a summer he'll never forget.

    A chance meeting with a young American chased away the fear that he would always be alone and brought him the prospect of a new existence.Dustin Earl joined the military and escaped his small town Southern upbringing with the hope that he could give his mentally challenged brother a better life. But Dustin had never known real love, an honest hug, or a simple kiss. He considered his sexuality a weakness; a threat that had been used against those he cared about.For eight months their relationship blossomed until Dustin suddenly returned home. He cherished Stephen, but felt his responsibilities to his brother outweighed his own chance at happiness.Shattered, unable to function and unwilling to accept Dustin’s departure, Stephen flew three thousand miles to get Dustin back and rekindle what they had. But what he would learn when he got there… he could never have imagined.

    It grows. It never leaves. When Joshua Newton, prodigal son of one of New Milton’s elite, fell in love with ambitious young actor Finn Callaghan, his world finally made sense. With every stolen moment, soft touch and breathless kiss, they fell deeper in love.Finn was his future…until he wasn’t. Love stays. Even when you don’t want it to, even when you try to deny it, it stays. Eight years later, Finn has returned to the seaside town where it all began. He’s on the brink of stardom, a far cry from the poor mechanic who spent one gorgeous summer falling in love on the beach.The last thing he wants is a second chance with the man who broke his heart. Finn has spent a long time forgetting Joshua Newton—he certainly doesn’t plan to forgive him. Love grows. It never leaves. One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise : all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!This book is approximately 63,000 wordsEdited by Kerri Buckley

    You can imagine how surprised we were when we first met in person. How confused I was about my feeling for him. I was already in love with the person behind the character, but I had never been attracted to a man before.Can you tell the story of how we became that happy couple in the picture?Photo Description: Two men, in their early twenties, lean towards each other for a kiss. Both smiling, they have their eyes shut. One boy has tousled hair, an earring and an upper ear piercing. He’s wearing a bright turquoise T-shirt while the other has neater hair and is wearing a checked shirt. Their hands are held, and a gaming controller nestles between them. A computer screen with a game playing on it is visible in the background.This 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 one of how Rory and I fell in love, supposedly, even if she couldn't handle it in the end. You know how it all went.Or you think you do.You only know her side. But I have my own point of view, and even Rory couldn't know my thoughts in those few months it took for her to go from being a stranger to my whole entire world.Every moment is permanently ingrained in my memory. In my goddamned soul. From the moment I stumbled upon the girl panicking outside of calculus - the one with the tight little body, the angelic face, and the fierce attitude - to the night she abandoned me in Miami. It was the sum of those moments that changed me irrevocably.Our story isn't over. I won't let it be. But this, this is what happened so far, the way I saw it.I'm Cap. Or Sam, to Rory. And this is my story.

    His father, the mayor, had cared more about re-election. Donny suddenly finds himself homeless, and on the street with a few dollars to his name. Face first in a gutter, after drowning his sorrows in cheap booze and cheaper sex, Donny is saved by Officer Peter Parker, a straight laced, by the book man who is everything that Donny wasn’t.At first, Donny tries to use him, just as he had used everyone else in his life, but he soon discovers that he has feelings for Peter. To win Peter’s love, Donny believes that he can change, that he can learn to be the man that Peter deserves. There are obstacles to his goal, though, life itself trying to trip him up and make him revert back to the selfish man that he used to be and a father who will stop at nothing to remove a son who is still too much of an embarrassment.

    One man is gay. The other is straight. Yet the moment they met in college they knew they’d be forever linked. After years of friendship, growing pains, and heartaches, they have grown into two men, each looking for their place in the world. And when they head off on a road trip to a family wedding, they are stunned to discover that sometimes you find what you’re looking for when you take an unexpected turn...

    At the lowest point in his life, he discovers that true passion and loyalty have been staring him in the face all along. There is one problem he must surmount first, Dax is straight and carries a lot of baggage. What neither of them realize is that sometimes passion can also bring healing. That is if one is brave enough to take the first step. In a perfect passion, one must be willing to take the risk.

    After three years working for Leo Foster’s construction company, Charlie’s worst fears are realized, and Leo finds out what Charlie has worked so hard to hide. When Leo meets the revelation with absolute love and acceptance, Leo has to trust that Charlie’s love isn’t just gratitude, and Charlie has to learn to trust again, period. It’s going to take a lot of work for these two men to get any closer.

    I had the posh apartment, luxury car, and designer threads to prove it.But what happens when the life you lead isn't the life your heart wants? What it needs?How long can you live your public life when the one that really makes you happy is the hidden one?

    His boyfriend died in a car crash while reading a sext from him, the local newspaper outed them both in the aftermath, and his parents got a divorce. Joel did everything possible to outrun his past: he moved to Oklahoma for college, legally changed his name, and started over.Since then, he hasn’t let anyone get close—not his classmates, not his roommate, and definitely not his hookups. The strategy has served him well for over three years. Why would he change it now?But Joel doesn’t plan on the articles about his boyfriend’s death being used as a case study in one of his classes. And he doesn’t plan on Paulie McPherson, who is sweet and giving and fun. In Paulie, he finds a home for the first time in years.But love isn’t simple, and lies have a tendency to get in the way. Joel must figure out if he’ll allow his grief to rule him, or if his connection with Paulie is worth letting all of his walls come tumbling down.

    He was a squirrel shifter from a large family and loved life with his three best friends. He loved being able to dress people up and make them feel their absolute best. He felt it was his calling in life to show people how to be true to themselves, no matter what others told them they had to be.Quentin Everett was a cougar shifter who’d been kicked out of his home at a young age by an uncaring mother. He had been raised by an older brother, until that brother was kicked out, then he became the oldest, raising his younger sibling until it was his turn to be banished. He never knew his father, just like the rest of his siblings. When he got older, he managed to put himself through school on scholarships and became a park ranger. He loved the freedom it gave his cougar, and himself.Getting tickets to the event of the year at The Underground, a costume party was something that everyone wanted. Sammy was dressed as a bandit, and even though he’d helped his besties with their costumes (much to their annoyance) everyone was dressed fabulous, when some skanky fairy came along and tried to steal his booty of nuts! Mayhem ensued as Sammy tried to collect his lost booty of nuts from the floor, as chaos with mates began.

    Hunter is a rugged trucker willing to do anything to keep her—including kidnapping. As they cross the country in his rig, Evie plots her escape, but she may find what she's been looking for right beside her.

    He’s used to getting his way and using force to do so. He doesn’t believe in romantic love or the necessities of such attachments, that is until in the middle of an altercation with the Dubois family he is brought face to face with his predestined forever mate...and oh boy does he mess it up. Actually to say he messed it up would be an understatement. Now after hurting his mate accidentally and scaring the crap out of him, he has to find a way to forge a bond and claim his mate, while also tracking down a shooter in the woods that is threatening his pack. Nothing in Jake’s life has ever come easy. Skye Dubois is the runt of the litter, so to speak. He is the youngest and the shortest of the five sons of farmer Daniel Dubois and therefore he is the most protected in the family. He cooks for his brothers and the farm workers and all-in-all has a pretty sheltered existence. He breaks that shelteredness when he meets Jake Maguire during a fight between the wolf pack and his brothers. Skye feels drawn to the handsome stranger, that is until said handsome stranger breaks his wrist. Now in the midst of trying to forge some sort of relationship with Jake, he has to deal with the wrath of his overprotective brothers. Skye will either end up hurt again, or embarrassed beyond all recognition...possible both.

    Once a wild and voracious player, he became a loner after a traumatic event in his past tore his world apart. Older and wiser, years of loneliness and a moment of weakness drive him to seek another’s touch. The only problem is, the club he chooses to visit is filled with PYT’s—pretty young things Chance simply doesn’t find appealing.Rory Calhoun has his own baggage that haunts him. Still, he gives in to curiosity and decides to check out the local club. Inside he spots a man who fires up every fantasy Rory’s ever had. The only problem is, despite a quick, enthralling encounter, the stranger makes it clear he isn’t interested in PYT’s, a label Rory knows would be slapped on him in a heartbeat if the stranger ever saw his face.Rory has one unexpected opportunity to make Chance see him as a man, and he’s going to grab that opportunity, and Chance with both hands.