Do not develop a crush on your archnemesis, contractor Ryder Richards.2. Do finish remodeling the heinous mega-mansion with him well before the first snowflakes fall on New Year’s Eve.
3. Do not notice that he's still the hottest man in Licking Thicket.
4. Do not let that gorgeous man provoke you.
5. Do not let his provocation distract you.
6. Do not let your distraction leave you stranded at the house with him during a blizzard.
7. Dear heavens, do not let him crack open the moonshine and light a fire.
8. Do not play drunken truth or dare with him.
9. And for gravy’s sake, do not let yourself fall in love.10. But if you do… Don't be surprised if this is the happiest year ever.

    The man who normally has a clear path to victory surrounded by brothers in combat is suddenly lost and alone. After meeting Beckett Ridge, a bearded tattoo artist, Dax’s journey begins winding down an unexpected path. Still reeling from events that shook his foundation, Beck has never been part of anything meaningful. Now faced with responsibilities foreign and daunting, Dax’s broken spirit mends Beck in ways he never even knew he was destroyed. As both struggle to find balance, they are healed by the comfort they find in one other. On the other side of chaos, they hope to find themselves On Solid Ground.

    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.

    Especially since he gets to work at Chicago’s prestigious Ashby’s department store in “the North Pole,” doing his part to make the magic of Christmas come alive for others.All Bennett “Ash” Ashby wants for Christmas is to forget about it. Unfortunately, his father is forcing him to pay penance for the media frenzy caused by his latest public sex scandal. The Ashby heir, working as a lowly department store Santa? Only the fact that no one will know it’s really him can save Ash the embarrassment of being stuck in a fat suit instead of partying with his friends.But when Elliott catches Ash’s eye, Christmas starts to look a whole lot brighter. And even though Elliott would never have the guts to say yes if he knew who Ash really was, falling for “Ben,” the new Santa, is another story all together…

    Leland isn’t just his boss, though. He’s the son of the company’s CEO. And Brian has fallen in love. Hurt by too many stolen kisses and nooners at seedy hotels, Brian finally broke off their secret affair two weeks ago. Leland isn’t ready to let Brian go and he isn’t above seducing Brian — again — to give them both what they really want for Christmas: each other.This free short story was originally written for the Goodreads M/M Romance Group's 2010 holiday event and appears in the event's Stuff My Stocking: M/M Romance Stories that are Nice and… Naughty anthology.

    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.

    has always hated the holidays. Presents, decorations, the traditional family Christmas…It’s all his colleagues in the staffroom can talk about. J.J. avoids these conversations like the plague. He’d do anything to keep his co-workers from seeing the real J.J, the gay man who doesn’t want to be noticed. When he slips up and reveals that he is all alone with no plans for Christmas, the well-meaning ladies of his high school want to take him in for the holidays. Oh hell….Enter Coach Adam Sutton who comes to his rescue—and now J.J. is trapped by this hulk of a man who won’t take no for an answer. And he would have to be someone J.J finds attractive, wouldn’t he? Too bad he’s straight and J.J’s not about to step out of the shadows and make a move on him. He likes his arms where they are, thank you very much.But Adam has a secret, one which is going to turn J.J’s world upside-down. Adam wants to give J.J. a Christmas to remember, but as it turns out, both men’s lives are never going to be the same again…

    Not this holiday. After his degree-seeking lover leaves humble blue-collar Ben, Ben spends the Yuletide miserable. He's not accustomed to being alone, not after seven years. Eventually Ben finds his lover's new address and sends him a greeting card asking when he'll come back home—only to learn in the returned correspondence that his card reached the wrong address and another man, Jason Prescott, by mistake.Jason is touched by Ben's appeal to his lover, and he and Ben spend months growing close as pen pals. Frequently exchanged correspondence turns into weekends spent together, but after learning Jason's working on his second master's degree and is even smarter than Ben's ex, Ben wonders if Jason will be able to love someone as ordinary as he is.

    That changes when he's surprised by a supercenter employee keeping the Christmas spirit alive by singing and doing some impromptu dance moves. Ryan Jolly is bouncy and a little flamboyant... and Blake is immediately smitten with him. Despite being total opposites, Blake's heart is captured by Ryan's bubbly personality and sweet smile, and when attraction flares between them, Blake starts to hope his new Christmas wish--to spend more than the holiday with Ryan--might come true.

    And then he has to ask Alex Capili, an old friend who just returned from the big city, to help run it. Spending weeks working closely together old feelings come up and David wonders if fairy tales really do come true.Alex came home to help sell off his family’s restaurant, he was not looking for love. And happy endings only happen in movies. But nothing about this return trip home town is quite what he expected and David is still the best man he's ever known. A good father, with a heart as big as all outdoors, and disarmingly handsome.

    With Chuck being a little distracted, Vince is feeling sorry for himself, until the day itself arrives....

    And when Taylor was shot a few hours later, Will felt his reluctance to get involved was vindicated. For Will, the team and the friendship have to come first--despite the fact that he hasn't failed to notice just how...hot Taylor is.Taylor has been in love with his partner and best friend since they were first partnered. There isn't much he wouldn't do for Will--but he doesn't know how much longer they can stay teamed feeling the way he does. Still, he agreed to a camping trip in the High Sierras--despite the fact that he hates camping--because Will wanted a chance to save their partnership.But the trip is a disaster from the first, and things rapidly go from bad to worse when they find a crashed plane and a couple of million dollars in stolen money. With a trio of murderous robbers trailing them, Will and Taylor are on dangerous ground, fighting for their partnership, their passion...and their lives.Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, male/male sexual practices, strong violence.

    The one present he wants more than anything is the one that's been forever out of his reach, his dad's best friend, Mitchell.Mitchell has watched Lucas grow over the years into a smart, sexy young man. Falling in love with his best friend's son was never in his plans. The early Christmas present Mitchell receives will change his life forever.

    And with good reason: he’s been on the transplant-recipient list for too long now. When he learns just how numbered his days truly are, he resolves not to take them for granted. But he won’t be unrealistic, either—which means romantic commitments are off the table.Marcus Roberts seems to have it all. He’s handsome, financially sound, and on the fast track to partnership at a prestigious law firm. In reality, though, his drive for success has meant no time for friends or relationships. Add in the fact that his family discarded him long ago, and he’s facing yet another holiday season alone.When the biggest snowstorm to hit Colorado in decades leaves Marc and Trevor stranded at the same hotel, a chance encounter and a night of passion leads to more than either of them expected. Finding comfort in each other is a welcome surprise, but time is not on their side. Either they find a way to beat the odds, or they lose each other forever.2015 Foreword Reviews IndieFab Awards Finalist, LGBT2015 Foreword Reviews IndieFab Awards Finalist, Romance2016 Rainbow Awards, Runner Up, Best Gay Book2016 Rainbow Awards, Runner Up, Best Gay Contemporary Romance

    So when his best friend, Madison, asks him to travel to her childhood home to celebrate Christmas, he can’t refuse fast enough. Scott doesn’t even get along with his own family, so the last thing he wants is to get saddled with her relatives for a whole week of snow and holiday cheer. Madison is good at getting what she wants, though, and before he knows it, Scott finds himself in for a seventeen-hour drive back to their home state of Michigan. Just as Scott is getting adjusted to the idea of having to deal with Madison’s crazy family, another one of her relations joins in for the car trip; her very sexy, very younger brother, Anson. Not only is Anson still in college, but he’s the baby of the family, both of which should make him hands-off for Scott. To Scott’s horror and joy, however, Anson doesn’t want Scott to keep his hands to himself. The younger man immediately makes it clear that Scott is the only present he wants to unwrap for Christmas. Holiday miracles can happen to anyone, or so Scott would like to believe. And it will take true magic for him and Anson to survive the holiday with their sanity intact, let alone for them to find a happily ever after...