It doesn’t pick up after the end of Book 2, but is a story of what happened to Dom and Seth on Christmas Eve in Paris.--- Midnight Mass might have to wait ---All Seth wants is a Christmas Eve to remember, with the man he loves. When Dom invites him to Paris, his dreams are about to come true. But the man waiting in the apartment they are to stay at changes the course of the trip. To Seth’s surprise, religion is a bigger issue for Dom than he’d thought, and it’s on a collision course with Seth’s atheism.Their first Christmas together might end up memorable for all the wrong reasons.POSSIBLE SPOILERS:Themes: Religion, blasphemy, complicated relationships, Paris, ChristmasGenre: contemporary gay erotic romanceLength: ~ 12,000 words

    The sexy man who pulls him from the wreckage, seeing him at his lowest, is either the best or worst thing to happen to Shayne in a long time.Challenge accepted…While Lincoln feels guilty for totaling Shayne’s car, he can’t regret having met the man. Something about Shayne calls to him on a new level and brings out a side in him even Lincoln can’t explain.When these two opposites collide it’s only a matter a time before one falls.Shayne’s first love will always be hockey. With the out-of-work goalie on the hunt for a new team, Lincoln knows their time together is short-lived. It’ll take a veteran player to sneak past the guard on Lincoln’s heart, but Shayne is up for the fight.

    When an axe-wielding maniac knocks on his front door and asks to dig up his living room floor, he figures his Monday from hell is complete.But an axe-wielding maniac may be just what Josh needs.This story also available in print in the anthology Ever After: The Collected Short Works of Marie Sexton.

    It is a special Valentine's Day sequel to Sandpipers' Secrets and should be read after that story.Brody is loving his new life with Zak and Lark, but he's afraid that his lovers are keeping secrets from him again. Their first Valentine's Day together isn't starting out all that well. And to top it all off, Wolf unexpectantly encounters issues that Brody's not sure any of them are ready to tackle at the moment. Warning : This book is part of a series best read in sequence.

    I was Jamie’s best man, and Scott was BJ’s best man. Not an ideal situation for either of us, since Scott and I have been enemies since high school. Somehow we managed to get through the weeks before the wedding without killing each other (barely), but then the bachelor party incident occurred and added fuel to the fire. Now we argue even more, and the sexual tension between us is unbearable, at least for me. Unfortunately, I have things I like— kinky things— that Scott would never be able to handle, probably because he’s not even gay. Or at least that’s what I always thought, but now I’m not so sure and apparently neither is he… Lush in Lace is a complete contemporary story written as part of the Goodreads MM Romance Group's Don't Read in the Closet - Love is an Open Road event. Tags: enemies to lovers, gay for you, out for you, funny/humorous, snarky, bickering best men, lingerie (maties/stockings), fetish/toys, nerd/jock, panty-scorcher, porngasmic fluff, family

    When Trask Maitland comes out to Lee, are they doomed from the start or is it possible that "three strikes and you're out" could turn into "third time's the charm?"Original Prompt:Dear Author,The first look between them had been innocent, or so he'd thought. I'd love to see exactly how things changed and where they'll end up.Photo Description: A black/white photo of two naked teens on a sofa. The tanned blonde on the bottom has his legs bent, splayed open, his right hand on his lover's butt. The pale brunette is on his knees, straddled over the blonde's right leg, hands on his lover's neck as he leans down for a kiss.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Hot Summer Days" 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 here or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 3 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, college, coming out, first time, roommatesWord Count: 4,647

    But, as Derek never hesitates to point out, Wiley is straight.When Wiley has a falling out with his roommate and winds up crashing on David and Derek's couch for a month, he's a 24/7 reminder of what David wants but fears he'll never have. Until one afternoon when David has a major art project to finish and a model who's a no-show. Wiley offers to pose for him---and it sure feels like the heat between them is mutual.Could Derek have been wrong about his best friend for all these years? Would David's dreams about Wiley finally come true? The only thing David knows is that one way or another he'll find out for sure...tonight. 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. Here is the letter and a description of the photo that accompanied this prompt:Dear Author,See the hot jock sitting on top of me? He’s my older brother’s team mate and I’ve lusted after him— and loved him— since forever. I never thought I’d have a chance though. That dumbass brother of mine always said he was straight. But look at the way he’s giving the phrase “He takes my breath away” a whole new meaning! My brother must be wrong. Please, dear author, let him be wrong and make my dream come true.Photo Description: Two sexy, shirtless, dark-haired young men are making out on a couch. The muscular, tattooed man on top is holding the other guy’s wrists above his head with one strong hand as they kiss.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.

    Seth’s unconventional upbringing taught him to always reach out to strangers in need, and Iranian engineering student Bilal al-Mansoori is no exception. Being trapped together leads to an unexpected mutual attraction—and a feverishly hot night under the covers. But Bilal needs more than simply a rescue from the weather—he’s trapped under lifetime of cultural pressures. His strict Muslim father and fellow Iranian students have no clue about his inner torment. His attraction to Seth isn’t a welcome discovery—instead he’s trapped between the existence he’s always known and the prospect of living and loving openly for the first time in his life. Note: This story stands alone—no need to have read the prior Courtland books.

    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?

    Their schools were cross-country rivals. Those face-offs were tough on Mitchell because he harbored a huge crush on Alex. High school, and college, are behind the guys and they meet unexpectedly on Thanksgiving Day, once again on the ice. Mitchell is home for the holidays and is thrilled to see his crush all grown up.Alex asks Mitchell out for coffee to catch up. Could this be the start of something magical for the holidays … and beyond?

    The day he acknowledged to himself that he was gay was also the day he vowed to stay in the closet in order to chase his dreams. The problem is, he never counted on Mason Atley.Sean showed rookie short stop Mason Atley the ropes, both on the field and off. The two forged a friendship which continued as both of them moved through the ranks of the farm system and into the majors. Unfortunately, there’s always been one secret Mason never felt he could share with Sean. Until now.For seven years, Sean lived with the fact that he loved a man who would never reciprocate. When Mason admits that he’s always known he’s bisexual but has never allowed himself to pursue a relationship with a man, will Sean be able to put aside his reservations about starting a relationship with the friend he’d always assumed was straight? And more importantly, will they be able to find a way to stay together when their careers keep them apart more than they can be together?

     A dozen years, two thousand miles, and a law degree after high school, Rafi Steiner continues to harbor resentment toward Isaac Jones, his childhood bully turned NBA star. When Isaac appears at Rafi's favorite restaurant acting like a long-lost friend, Rafi bluntly dismisses him. But Isaac is tenacious and he has his heart set on the grown-up version of the boy he always wanted and never forgot. The way Isaac sees it, he and Rafi are perfect for each other, if only he could sink the most important shot of his life: his one shot at forgiveness. Word Count: 17,536

    In Mischa's opinion, you can't live with them. Period. That's why he's so reluctant to let Tom meet them, but Mischa's family decides that they'd like to meet Tom. And an order is an order.This is a once in a lifetime chance for Tom to see a Russian bear in its natural environment. Mischa's family seems friendly enough, at least until Mischa's uncle sends Tom out into the woods by himself. In the middle of the night. However, there's more to Mischa's Russian background than Tom knew. In the quiet summer night, Tom learns a thing or two about Russian myth and lore - and about family.This story is part of the 2011 Charity Sip Blitz collection. More than thirty authors have written short fiction pieces and have agreed to donate all proceeds of the sales of these stories to the It Gets Better Project. Torquere Press Inc. will match the authors' donations completely.

    Even worse is the holiday-themed hell of Santa's Village that looms right in front of the sports store he manages. It's yet another hurdle for Cal as he tries to survive the world of retail during the soul-sucking holiday season… until he catches a glimpse of one of Santa's elves and becomes infatuated with the cheery, gorgeous guy dressed in candy-cane tights.Of course, just walking up to the guy and asking him out isn't easy, and a botched attempt at matchmaking ends up turning a simple courtship into a mess for the gossip page. What can Cal do to overcome his social ineptitude, correct erroneous assumptions, and maybe have a merry little Christmas of his own?

    Especially after a filthy postgame kiss leaves me wanting all the things I can’t have.What's the risk in playing dirty just one time?**A Note from Lauren to Readers,When I finished reading KD Casey's debut novel Unwritten Rules I was so impressed that I asked her to co-write a fun little scene with me between two baseball players. We'd both written baseball romances so this made perfect sense. We had such a great time with these characters that a short scene turned into a sexy, flirty, dirty standalone novella that we love. I hope you enjoy reading Dirty Slide as much as we enjoyed writing it!XoxoLaurenA Note from KD Casey to Readers,I was ecstatic when Lauren reached out to me about potentially collaborating on a story. I loved the Men of Summer series, and jumped at the opportunity to create a new baseball romance. What started as a short story soon grew with the characters (which is one of the joys of writing!). We truly had a blast writing this and hope you have the same reading!Play ball!KD