The Ghosts of Crushes Past


Isla Olsen - 2020
    And so, it seems, does everyone else...I have an awesome, not at all cheesy mistletoe-related plan to make my Christmas wish come true, but before I can put it into action I’m thwarted by the arrival of not one, not two, but three of Ty’s drop-dead gorgeous former crushes. It seems they’ve all conspired to spend their holiday break at my family’s Aspen resort...and they’ve all got eyes for Tyler—I’m sure of it.Now I need to come up with a new plan. A plan that involves showing Tyler that I’m the guy for him, that what we have could be so much more than friendship...And if I happen to break a limb or burn my house down in the process? Well, as they say...love hurts.Disclaimer: this book does not contain any actual ghosts

Black Dog


Cat Grant - 2013
    Mutual attraction and small-town ties hold them together, yet they’re haunted by a shared tragedy that still hangs between them.Their tenuous, on-again off-again relationship takes a hard right cross with the arrival of Tom Delaney, a teen on the run from his punch-happy father. In no time, the kid shows himself to be a boxing prodigy.But Tom’s politically influential father isn’t yet down for the count. When his mother shows up at Eddie’s diner with a shiner and a haunted look in her eyes, Tom is hopeful for her future. But when that hope is snuffed out, Tom’s rage has him ready to turn his new fighting skills to a deadly purpose. Revenge, or die trying.Unless his surrogate big brothers can put their painful past behind them to keep history from rising up for another round.This book has been previously published.Warning: Tough guys with a long history beating the crap out of each other to avoid saying “I love you”. Heaps of sexual tension. More angst and emotion than deemed safe by the Surgeon General. Proceed with caution!

Saving Silas


S.J. Himes - 2015
    29th, 2015.* Haunted by his years at war, Boston paramedic Gael Dominic spends his time saving other people’s lives. An empty house, a single friend, and living at work, Gael is not content with his existence, but he’s close. Gael was expecting his overnight shift on Thanksgiving to be the same as always—manic crowds, heart attacks...until catastrophe strikes, and Boston’s streets run with blood. On the run from an abusive and politically powerful father, Silas has been on the cold, mean streets of Boston for days, injured, hungry and alone. When he wakes up in the middle of a nightmare, he expects to die in the same alley he was calling home. Brought together by tragedy, Silas and Gael can’t resist their attraction. Gael may have saved Silas, but it’s his alleyway angel who brings Gael back to life. As Christmas approaches, Silas and Gael learn how to love, despite their pasts. And as Silas' past closes in, Gael learns the greatest gift he could ever give isn't something bought in a store, but freely given from the heart. Novella~32k words. MATURE CONTENT. Warning: Violence.

Pull Down the Sun


Danni Keane - 2015
    For six weeks every year, he was my best friend, my partner-in-crime, and eventually my first kiss, my first everything. And then one year, what should have been our last summer before university, he wasn’t there. He didn’t come back. I waited all summer. Now, ten years later, on a different beach, in a different town, another country, we run into each other and all those old feelings come rushing back.Photo Description: The black-and-white photo shows two handsome, well-built, bare-chested young men, kissing passionately as they lie in the shallow waves on a beach. Still wearing their jeans, they look like they have tumbled into the water, so caught up in the moment and their love for each other they are oblivious to the world around them.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is an Open Road" 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.

Every Time A Bell Rings


Missy Welsh - 2011
    People he thought were friends didn't stick with him and he's somehow become kind of a recluse without meaning to be. Only Mike, his best friend since they were kids, has stuck by him and is now saving him from homelessness after a fire destroys Brian's apartment building days before Christmas. Though Mike has to go down South for the holiday, Brian stays in Mike's apartment with his slightly singed kitten Oreo.Brian's only goal is to set his affairs back in order before everything shuts down for the holidays and then make it through those holidays in one piece. He's lost so much -- his only real possession is a photo album of his mom that he risked death to save from the fire -- and he's feeling lost and very alone...until Mike, his hot neighbor Trent, and even little Oreo conspire to give Brian the best Christmas possible and a future that looks a lot brighter.

Don't Stop Believing


Gwen Hayes - 2015
    Two days before Christmas, he sees the new librarian’s car in a ditch and knows he can’t leave him on the road, but it’s too late to take him back to town. He’ll have something he’s never had in his cabin in the ten years that’s he’s lived there…company.The Book Nerd from the CityAdam Parker moved to the small community to make big changes in his life, but being snowbound with the bearded lumberjack in his rustic cabin was something he’d thought only existed in his fantasies. Simon pushes away anyone who wants to get close to him, but Adam sees what he’s hiding in his heart and he wants it. Badly.A Christmas to RememberAdam smells like cinnamon and redemption and Simon aches to run his fingers over the scrape of stubble on his cheeks. To pull him into a kiss. To reignite feelings he’d denied himself for too long. Life is right there, blazing in the eyes of the town librarian. A man who isn’t afraid of him. But he learned long ago that everything he touches gets tainted, and he’ll do anything to keep his darkness away from Adam’s light.But Adam has something else on his side—he’s been a very good boy this year and all he wants for Christmas is Simon.

Mighty Casey


Willa Okati - 2013
    The feeling's mutual, thanks--but it isn't all fun and games. A wedding planner, Casey's booked solid during the summer months and thanks to a certain poem about the Mudville Nine, cringes at the thought of ball games. Fair's fair--with seven older sisters who redefined “wedding drama”, Nate freezes at the thought of tying the knot. Casey might wish things were different, but he wouldn't trade Nate, his big heart, or his skills between the sheets for a wedding worthy of a Rockefeller.After losing a strip poker bet, Casey's promised forfeit is spending a full day at a softball tournament. He's sure there's more going on than a simple sports wager and wonders what Nate's up to, but he's curious enough to jump in and commit. And so, finally, is Nate, who's planning a surprise involving an engagement ring and a proposal from the pitcher's mound.But things don't go quite according to scheme for the odd couple when Nate takes his lover out to the ball game. And who knows what might happen when Casey's called up to bat?

To the Highest Bidder


Kate Steele - 2008
    Becca has bid on and won an auction and she's handing her winnings over to Ben. The highest bidder gets the privilege of sharing lunch with Mitch DeSantis, star of wildly popular television show, Case Files.Though he's a huge fan of the show and not above entertaining a steamy fantasy or two starring Mitch, Ben's not particularly thrilled with the idea. After all, how do you make conversation with someone you see on television every week? As it turns out, he needn't have worried. While Mitch is as gorgeous in person as he is on screen, he's also rude, arrogant, and a complete ass. Ben leaves before the main course is served, hoping never to see Mitch DeSantis again.Fate has other plans. A completely changed and contrite Mitch shows up with an apology, a heart-stopping smile, and an invitation to dinner. It's a combo Ben finds hard to resist. This new Mitch is someone Ben could lose his heart to, but it's a one-time thing, right? No danger of that happening.If he'd only known. Mitch has an ulterior motive that could lead to something neither one of them expected.

Three Dates of Christmas


K.C. Burn - 2016
    His job as a pharmacy manager requires him to festoon his store with seasonal cheer, but his distaste for the lurid commercialism is only topped by his irritation with the syrupy sentimentalism. Being alone sucks, but he’s managed just fine without friends or family for years; why should December 25 be any different? When the tattooed Tony Delvecchio walks into his store, Dean hopes that maybe Tony’s different. Maybe Tony’s the man who won’t be driven away by Dean’s Scrooge-like tendencies. But Tony loves the holiday season, and he challenges Dean to three dates. Three dates to change his mind about Christmas. Despite knowing it will all end badly, Dean does the unthinkable. He agrees.

A Christmas Boyfriend


Trina Solet - 2015
    Ben is a busy dad to a four year old little girl. He doesn't have much time for a social life, but he wasn't serious when he asked for a man for Christmas. His daughter, Maya, doesn't know that. She is determined to play Santa and get her dad the gift he asked for. The man she picks for her dad is her preschool teacher, Jason Kenney. Neither Jason nor Maya think he's the right man to be a present for Ben, so why is he standing there on Christmas Eve with a gift bow in his hair? Smarting from a recent breakup, Jason isn't looking forward to the holidays. Despite his reservations, Jason gets tangled up with Ben. There is something about Ben that he just can't resist. As their feelings intensify, will spending Christmas together turn into something more?