And definitely no falling for his new roommate-tattooed bad-boy Max, who may or may not be a drug dealer.Most of all, it means no working at a porn store. But Christian's aunt has cancer, and her beloved Rear Entrance Video will go bankrupt if Christian doesn't take over managerial duties. Soon enough, Christian finds himself juggling sticky twenty-five cent peep show booths, a blackmailing employee, and a demanding professor who likes to make an example of him.And then there's Max, who doesn't know anything about the store, but hates Christian's preppy sweater vests and the closet Christian forces him into when they're together. Max just wants Christian to be himself-even though Max is keeping secrets of his own. Christian struggles to find the impossible balance between his real life and the ideal one he thinks a teacher needs to live . . . all while trying to keep his aunt's dream alive without losing his own.

     Jonathon West is a mailman afraid of dogs: he's an office mailroom supervisor, but a childhood attack left him nervous of man's best friend. The office charity committee nominates him to drop off a donation at the animal shelter, an act that takes all his courage. For his pains, openly-gay Jonathon is rewarded by meeting Dylan Pond, the most gorgeous man he's ever laid eyes on. The connection is instant, and Jonathon finds himself drawn back to the animal shelter volunteer's eyes and arms. Since promising himself he wouldn't date bratty young men, Jonathon's been lonely for too long. As Dylan and Jonathon fall for each other, the shelter gets an urgent call. Chemistry isn't enough without commitment. It's time for Jonathon to decide if he can put aside his fears and loneliness to embrace all he's offered. Taking Shelter is a standalone gay romance with a HEA ending.

    So when his introverted friend asks Bruno to break the ice for him with the sexy guitar playing paramedic in a bar one night, he doesn’t hesitate.But when Bruno sees Holden, he is as infatuated with him as Freddy is. Can he keep in sight that Freddy saw him first, or will a late night trip back to the hot medic’s condo throw all his good intentions to the wind.

    It was supposed to be just one night in town to close the deal, and sleeping with one of the local men, no matter how gorgeous, meant nothing more than a few hours of fun.Andrew Kelly is perfectly content with the life he has in his hometown. So much so that the only thing missing is someone to share it with. Going to bed with a tourist was never meant to be the answer to his dreams, just a beautiful distraction. He could get back to looking for Mr. Right the next day.Both Andrew’s and Joel’s worlds are turned upside down when a few hours of pleasure get extended to a couple of days. Even that shouldn’t have been a big deal. You can’t fall in love in that amount of time. That isn’t how it works. However, if destinies collide, a few short days may be all it takes to find your soul mate. Even so, when secrets and motivations get tangled, fate may do nothing more than leave two hearts in pieces.

    In a single tragic moment, he goes from an artist with a loving partner and a future to an uninspired comic book store owner who barely exists. He hides behind a shield of grief, refusing to let Aaron go. He feels guilty for even trying to imagine a life apart from what he’d had.The charming party planner Quinn’s best friend insists he meet on a blind date isn’t someone he’s ready for. Brady Banner walks into Quinn’s small frozen world and turns everything upside down. For years, Quinn has focused on endings, but as Brady begins to thaw his existence, Quinn realizes that one moment can do more than stop a life—it can also start a new one.

    Take Noel: even though he’s educated and rich and he don’t think he’s even gay, I want to belong to him. I want him to take me completely---Dane ConnellyDane Connelly is a gay janitor and boxer with a soft heart and a simple outlook--he wants to meet the right man, someone who will look past his macho sport and put him in the place of a submissive. He wants to fall in love and belong to his partner.On the surface, Noel Atherton, an intellectual, shy, and sexually repressed university graduate student with a crippled leg, could not be the dominant lover that Dane longs for. But after their first meeting, when Dane disables the fire alarm in the library and lights a cigarette, Noel is drawn from his shell. Soon, Noel needs to touch Dane, exploring his sexuality for the first time. And both learn that looks can be deceiving.However, Noel's controlling father is appalled by the relationship and quietly arranges to get Dane out of the way and punish him for daring to love a man so far above his station.

    They do everything together—work, play, relax, live. Minus the blight that is Wally's wife, and the unhappiness she brings him, their lives are grand.But then Wally files for divorce, and his wife drops a bombshell he never expected, and Antoine realizes that the life he'd always imagine with the best friend he's always secretly loved has been taken away from him a second time.By the Way is a side story to the novel The Missing Butterfly by Megan Derr.

    Life is tough, but I learned that living on the streets is even tougher.When I thought things couldn’t get much worse, Erik suddenly appeared before me, just like an angel. Is this a dream or are the drugs making me hallucinate? What is he running from? Why won’t he tell me about his past? Can I trust him?Photo Description: Two slightly lanky, dark-haired boys are embraced, one behind the other. One boy has his hands inside the pockets of the hoodie of the boy in front of him. This small gesture hints at an unfamiliar reassurance that he plans to make his intimacy more than words will allow.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" 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.

    The kind I would normally never send. Only, instead of it going to the flirty hotel bartender, it goes to some random stranger who actually responds.I tell myself an unexpected night of hot as hell back-and-forth is the perfect way to blow off a little steam while I’m in New York closing an important business deal. Little do I know the man on the other end of the line is none other than Wells Grange: the most controlling, egotistical, emotionless SOB I’ve ever met.I spend my days squaring off against Wells in the boardroom, and my nights succumbing to the sexy stranger’s commanding texts in the bedroom. Within days, I’m falling for someone I shouldn’t, and I have to remind myself that none of this is real.Wells:The first thing I notice about Conor Newell when he sits down in my high-rise conference room is how delightfully nervous he is. Then I see his tie. The same geeky tie that’s held hostage on my phone. The one that belongs to my anonymous late-night texter. And it changes everything.I should confess. Tell the truth about who I am. Instead, I decide there’s no harm in flirting. After all, once our business is concluded, he’ll be out of my life for good.The more I get to know Conor, however, the more I start to fall for him. Which is a problem, because I made a vow long ago to never let emotions interfere with my life, either business or personal. Except I can’t stop thinking about him night and day. If it’s only in my head, though, it doesn’t count.After all, it’s not like we’re falling for each other in real life...

    Nearly four years later, and now calling himself Trick, he’s still struggling to survive. While huddled in a doorway on a cold rainy morning, he thanks his lucky stars when an expensive Mercedes pulls up and rolls down a window.Phoenix, known as Master P, may be a big intimidating Dom, but he has a soft spot for vulnerable young men. When he sees a homeless kid trembling in the cold, he has to stop and pick him up. What he finds is a boy with a naturally submissive nature and a damaged soul. As he begins to train the boy at the online BDSM club where he’s employed, DOMZ.com, they form a fast and explosive combination.When Trick begins to fall for his big Dom, Phoenix is forced to tell him that this is only play. The resulting fallout will shake Phoenix to his very core. Is this chance encounter doomed for failure or can the two men find a balance?

    In fact he could tell you right down to the very minute. He and Cooper have never been anything but friends, though, and as seems to be his luck, whenever he’s considered trying to make a move, either he or Cooper have been otherwise involved. Now that’s all about to change. Spring break is here, and for the first time in years they’re both single. Quinn thinks his time has finally come, his chance to put his plan to seduce Cooper to the test, but things don’t go quite the way he plans.Original Prompt: Dear Author,I feel like these two have a lot of fun together, but they're just friends. Until this licking game turns into something more. Right after this moment, I bet there's a really hot look and a whole lotta sexual tension.Photo Description: A young man in a tank top is smiling, eyes closed, while another young man in a backward hat licks his right cheek.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 online.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, college; public sex acts; friends-to-lovers; road trip; dirty talk; oral sex; geeks/nerds; snowballingWord Count: 9,748

    Several guys burned by love decided to create a club they dubbed the Solitary Knights. A safe haven for the romantically disinclined, the guys meet once a month to drink a beer and renew their vow to avoid love at all costs. Yet beneath the laughter and bravado, each man hides a broken heart. One night, Drew Kensington, owner and bartender of the Pelham Bay Pub, issues a challenge, “Why don’t you find that one guy—the one that got away, the one you’ve never quite let fade from your dreams? Track him down. Reconnect. Then come back here and tell us what you found out.”And so it began, the tales of the Solitary Knights. What will they find on their adventures into the past? Stop by Pelham Bay Pub to hear their stories.Book 1: Finding Chandler - Eric Moore didn’t know what he had back in college, casually breaking the heart of the one guy who would have done anything for him. When Eric decides to seek him out twenty years later, the man he discovers isn’t the boy he left behind so long ago… Will finding Chandler mean finding love at last?

    Ten years later Tallis is dead broke, newly homeless, and on the walk of shame to end all walks of shame. He needs money and needs it fast, and Rock Bay is the only home he knows. But the people of Rock Bay haven't forgotten him-or the spoiled brat he used to be. The only person in town willing to overlook his past is Lex, the new coffee shop owner, who offers Tally a job even though he appears to despise Tally based on his reputation alone. When Tally discovers his gorgeous boss is the kid he tortured back in high school, Lex's hot and cold routine finally makes sense. Now Tally has to pull out all the stops to prove he was never really the jerk he seemed to be. After all, if he can win Lex's heart, the rest of the town should be a piece of coffee cake.

    Territorial creatures of darkness, vampires can't peacefully exist near each other. Human companions age and die, leaving him to face the long nights alone. After the death of his last lover, Lorcan vows to avoid the pain of loss. Until a down-and-out actor finds himself in danger and Lorcan can't resist saving the young man. Kevin St. James never expected to find himself offering sex for money, especially not to men. A desperate need for quick cash, a dark alley, and things go terribly wrong. His dark rescuer brings out feelings hidden so deep, Kevin never realized they were there. Reveling in newfound sensations, Kevin welcomes his new lover. But just as Lorcan has a secret, so too does Kevin.

    But then a mission went horribly wrong and everything fell apart, sending Tanner into hiding and splitting the team and their affair wide apart.Now an unknown traitor is threatening the team, and their ex-boss is determined to reunite them before it's too late. She finds Tanner in a run-down trailer park, bringing with her a most unwelcome refugee in need of temporary sanctuary: Niall, the man he thought he'd never have to face again. The man he's sure feels exactly the same in return.Trapped in a situation that's both claustrophobic and highly dangerous, Tanner and Niall will have to revisit their past and reconsider their perceptions, their loyalties-and their desires-in order to survive, let alone forge a future together.