His ex may have been a snobbish bastard, but without him, Giles is adrift, rattling around his huge, lonely house. When a dreadlocked narrowboater’s engine breaks down at the end of his canal-side garden, Giles is furious at this invasion of his privacy—for a while.Smutty might not have ever held down a proper job, but the fire-dancing, free-spirited traveller can recognise an opportunity for mutual benefit when he sees it. Giles’ extensive gardens are in as desperate need of attention as the upper-class hunk is himself, whereas Smutty knows a thing or two about plants and needs a place to moor up.A simple business arrangement between two men who have nothing else in common? It would be—if they could keep their hands off each other!

    Then one rainy night, he gets a call that his ex has been beaten and shot in a parking lot outside a gay dance club. JD is in critical condition and the man who was with him is dead.Robert rushes to JD's bedside to find him recovering from the gunshot wound but suffering from retrograde amnesia. As JD slowly regains his memories, he recalls everything except the circumstances of the murder, and the reasons why he left Robert. He remembers their love, and seems determined to reconcile. It's the miracle Robert's been hoping for.Interference comes from all sides. Detective Bill Turner, who seems to have too personal an interest in JD, pegs Robert as the primary suspect in the shooting. Robert's best friend, police Captain Gabe Lara, seems to feel that Robert is better off without JD. Even JD's returning memory seems to conspire against Robert. And as the detectives track down the killer, Robert helplessly waits for JD to recall the truth of their relationship and leave him yet again.But if they survive the investigation, they just might find love in retrograde.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, masturbation, violence.

    Solving it could tear them apart.In the best of times, Daniel Gardner hates visiting his family. With his boyfriend pressuring him for a mortgage-serious commitment, Christmas in Easton, PA sounds, for once, like a welcome escape. His old house holds more than memories of a miserable adolescence, though. It has Trey Eriksson.At seventeen, Trey was taken in by the wealthy Gardner family after his father was jailed for his mother’s murder. Until he left for the Army, he fought a double-edged battle—for proof of his father’s innocence and against his attraction to Daniel.Fifteen years later, things haven’t changed. Trey is still looking for the real killer. And Daniel has never forgotten how Trey used to sneak into his room at night.Now new clues to the murder are resurfacing—and so is Trey and Daniel’s sexual chemistry. Except this time, Trey has come to terms with his orientation.But their connection may not be enough to overcome the mistakes of the past. Not while a murderer still walks free…Product WarningsAnyone who would rather not read about hooking back up with someone who broke your heart, minor suspense, hot guys who can handle guns and each other, and lots of steamy gay sex probably isn’t reading this warning anyway, but if you are, back away slowly and keep your hands where I can see them.

    Two men are about to find out if that old saying is true...Captain Daniel Chan works for the Riceland Police Department. It’s a small town in Texas and he’s the only Chinese American on the force. He considers himself bisexual, but when he meets Mark Montgomery, a gay man, he falls hard. But being with Mark means he’ll have to commit to being gay. Mark won’t have it any other way.Mark’s a man with a terrible past and he’s in hiding from it and the man who tried to kill him so long ago. When he meets Dan, it’s a chance at healing old wounds and finding a new life. But it also means exposure, and that’s something Mark’s avoided for years. When he’s thrust onto center stage after a shooting, he turns to Dan for protection.But even in a small town, things can get complicated. Political maneuvering, shady real estate deals, and men’s ambitions all collide, catching Dan and Mark in the middle. Will the forces they encounter destroy them and their new found love, or will it bind them together?Genres: Gay / Mystery / Detective / Suspense / Thriller / Action / Adventure / Interracial / Multicultural / Contains Some Heterosexual (M/F) Content

    That was until his band's tour bus becomes stranded in Wyoming during an epic snowstorm. When rancher Colt Billings offers assistance, everything Kyle thought he knew is tested and he is forced to face emotions and truths that he has managed to hide most his life.The last thing Colt needs is an attraction to a young rock star, but ever since he opened his home to the band to wait out the storm, Kyle consumes his mind. Keeping his distance from the long-haired singer is just not an option.When their two worlds clash, they must work through their feeling as their passion grows, and secrets threaten to end it all. Just when things look like they might work out, tragedy strikes, adding new insecurities and issues the two must overcome, making them wonder if love really is enough.

    In LA's glittering world of dreams, he works an unglamorous job at a gourmet grocery store. His past is so deep and dark, the details are lost even to him. All he knows is he was once cursed by a meter maid, and ever since, his love life has sucked.When Detective Nick Davies becomes a regular at the store, Jem dares to hope he's un-hexed at last. He should have known that sex with a remarkably normal guy, devoid of weird fetishes and fatal personality flaws, was too good to be true.During a post-encounter cuddle, Nick recognizes the tattoo on Jem's back—and remembers him as a young hustler he arrested nine years past.As Jem's memories come crashing back, he flees from Nick, but fate contrives to keep pushing them back together. And when Jem's old partner in crime is found murdered, the stakes are raised for life, for love, and a dangerous drama with no guarantee of a Hollywood ending.Warning: Stars a mild-mannered store clerk with a shady past, a hunky cop whose passion in the bedroom is as big as his passion for justice, and celebrity sightings you won't see on TMZ.

    The local police keep his number on file for a different reason—his sixth sense for finding hidden things.When he’s called in to help locate the body of a missing woman up on Nomansland Common, he unexpectedly encounters someone who resurrects a host of complicated emotions. Phil Morrison, Tom’s old school crush, now a private investigator working the same case. And the former bully partly responsible for Tom’s injury.The shocks keep coming. Phil is now openly gay, and shows unmistakable signs of interest. Tom’s attraction to the big, blond investigator hasn’t changed—in fact, he’s even more desirable all grown up. But is Phil’s interest genuine, or does he only want to use Tom’s talent?As the pile of complicated evidence surrounding the woman’s murder grows higher, so does the heat between Tom and Phil. But opening himself to this degree exposes Tom’s heart in a way he’s not sure he’s ready for…while the murderer’s trigger finger is getting increasingly twitchy.Warning: Contains a flirtatious plumber with hidden talents, a cashmere-clad private investigator with hidden depths, and an English village chock full of colourful characters with plenty to hide.

    But now he is going to spend Hanukkah with them in order to finally tell them the truth: not only is he gay, but he is a successful author of gay novels and not the struggling (and straight) writer they imagine him to be.The holiday starts poorly. A record blizzard delays his flight. The snowstorm locks him and his loud, argumentative relatives in the house. The power fails. And, worst of all, Jonah has to share his room with his childhood rival, the perfect Jewish son, the one he spent his entire life unfavorably compared to: Dr. Ethan Rosenberg, son of his mother's mahjong partner, and apparently God's gift to the Chosen People.If this isn't bad enough, Jonah has to interpret Ethan's strange new fascination with him. Is Ethan flirting? Or is this just another trick to break Jonah's heart?But when a valuable family heirloom is stolen during the festivities and suspicion falls on Jonah, Ethan agrees to help prove Jonah's innocence. They have eight days to do it. But will they solve the crime before the cooking oil -- and everyone's civility -- runs out?

    But that doesn’t mean he has the confidence to make a move on the gorgeous young blond who just breezed in to the Blue Dragon Bar. Fate will play its hand, anyway. Finding the same young blond beaten to the edge of death, terrified of a hospital, Sebastian has to choose - walk away, or try to save a life.This one chance encounter will lead Sebastian into a web of danger. Who is the enemy and who is a friend? Who will he trust when everyone has a reason to lie? How far will he go, and what will it cost, to do the right thing?Original Prompt:Dear Author,I'm so out of my league with this one I have no idea what the hell I'm doing. I watched him walk into that bathroom. How could I not notice him? Just look at him. He's fucking beautiful. I didn't see him come back out, but I was trying to play it cool, ya know? I thought maybe he'd left when after 30 minutes I didn't see him in the bar anywhere. Shrugging it off, figuring he's probably a good 10 years too young for me anyway, I went to the bathroom and saw him again. Only this time he was a broken, bloody heap on the floor in the last stall. Shit! I rushed over to him, felt for a pulse and tried to assess the damage. I'm just a retired Navy medic, not a doctor but when I roused him, he started screaming and pleading with me not to take him to the hospital. Said they'd kill him if they found him and they'd be sure and look there first. So I picked him up, carried him out and brought him home. He's so badly beaten. I think they kicked him half to death. I have to examine him, but he's so scared. I'm not sure if he's been raped or not but how do I get him to trust me enough to even check? Please help me put this beautiful, battered boy back together again.Photo Description: A bleached-blond young man with a sculpted body is sitting half-naked and curled over his own knees. His eyes are closed, and his head is down. He looks tired and scared.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.Download the story, read it online or find it in Love Is Always Write: Volume 11 - Bonus Volume.__________Genre: contemporary, thriller. Tags: medical personnel; military men; first time; hurt/comfort; slow burn; unresolved sexual tensionWarnings: descriptions of post-violent-attack first aid and medical care; non-graphic discussions of off-screen sexual assault; gun violence (non-sexual). Word count: 70,085

    In the two years since she passed, he’s carved out an empty life as a small-town deputy, relying on out-of-town one-night stands to keep him sane. Then he meets Detective Christopher Hayes, and they share a wild night so incredible Doug breaks his own rule and allows a one-night stand to grow into a weekend of amazing sex. When Christopher travels from San Diego to Montana to deal with his abusive brother’s suicide, he doesn’t expect to find the man he spent the weekend with to be handling his brother’s case. He certainly doesn’t mind spending more time with Doug—but then an arsonist destroys the house Christopher inherited from his brother, and Christopher and Doug discover they are the primary suspects.As they investigate, they discover Christopher’s dead brother has set them on the trail of a psychotic pedophile who will stop at nothing to silence his last victim. However, the search for the victim goes horribly wrong, leaving Doug hospitalized and Christopher at the mercy of the killer….

    Before embarking on yet another international concert tour, he wanders into a bar in what he considers the middle of nowhere and meets a man who wins him over with his friendly smile and easy-going nature. Accountant slash bartender slash adventure-seeker Reg Moore has fun talking and drinking with The Jeremy Jameson and can’t say no when the supposedly straight rock star makes him a once in a lifetime offer: keep him company on his tour by playing the part of his boyfriend. Listening to music, traveling the world, and jumping off cliffs is fun. Falling in love is even better. But to stay with Jeremy after the stage lights dim, Reg will need to help him realize there’s nothing pretend about their relationship.

    Raised strict but fair by his police chief father, he joined the academy right out of school, climbed the ranks hard and fast, and now works homicide for the City of Charleston. The job is his entire life. For years it’s kept him happy enough to minimize the side of him that craves what he believes is wrong. An accident on the job puts him on medical leave and everything in Brody’s world changes. He has to prove himself once more to be best cop in the department, all while dealing with Zack – his persistent, sexy, and out of the closet physical therapist.Zack is tan skin, big grins, floppy hair and tackles his job with the same full-blown enthusiasm he does everything else. When the “patient from hell” is thrown his way by another PT who can’t handle him, Zack is committed to achieving the impossible. His new patient is a head strong and hot as hell homicide detective, who oozes as much resentment as he does sex appeal. Any involvement with a patient, especially a man who is so deep in the closet he can’t see light, is something Zack swore he’d never do. But Brody slowly proves too much to resist…

    All reported to be runaways looking to escape their shitty lives, but Remy’s starting to put together a different picture and he doesn’t like it one damn bit.Inspector Jamie Mainwaring stares at the six reports, willing them to make sense. Six boys, six months, all from just outside of London, which meant six different investigations. All of the boys were between the ages of ten and fifteen, all purportedly runaways from dysfunctional families. Something was rotten in Denmark.There are always runaways. Every small town loses them—every big city collects them. Kids look for freedom and discover they have more to lose than they ever thought possible. London and Phoenix, culture and cowboys, nothing linking these two sprawling metropolitan areas. Nothing except a hit on a computer data search.Two cops, one a cowboy, the other a Lord. A secret government agency, human trafficking, and a blazing hot mutual distraction.What the hell have Remington and Mainwaring gotten themselves into?

    This edition offered for free from the authors. It can be downloaded at Archive of Our Own here: Truthful ChangeKarl Blake's good at a lot of things: killing bad guys, rescuing hostages...and looting priceless diamonds, but when a bullet ends his career as a mercenary he discovers that he's really bad at living in a huge house with nothing to do. A shy, oddly sexy gardener with an unexpected liking for rough sex seems just what the doctor ordered for his boredom. But Adam's got secrets that make Karl's seem mundane, and if the two of them are going to find a future together, there's a lot more to deal with than dandelions in the lawn.With the past and the present combining to push them apart, betrayal, hurt, and mistrust around every corner, the two of them need to focus less on labels and more on what they are to each other.Because a rose by any other name...Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations some readers may find objectionable: Domination/submission, male/male sexual practices.

    Keeping his hands off? Impossible…It took attending his own funeral to force Logan to accept a new life as an undercover MI6 agent. That doesn’t make his latest assignment any less aggravating. Babysitting a Russian pop star with delusions that someone’s trying to kill him.Other than an inexplicable attraction Logan ruthlessly suppresses, he couldn’t have less in common with the irritating, arrogant rich kid. He’s even prepared to walk away—until very real bullets start flying.After his mother’s death, Zak Kochenkov’s life unravels in an impenetrable haze of grief, drugs and alcohol—until one bodyguard candidate stands out. Except his hopes of having some fun with that guard’s body evaporate when he realizes Logan is buttoned up tighter than a clam.The first thing Logan learns is that his charge won’t do as he’s told. And there’s some secret behind his haunted eyes that shakes Logan’s resolve to keep him at arm’s length. Because he knows if he lets passion close his eyes, that’s when danger will find them both…