Brady Novak was kind, responsible and easy on the eyes. Yeah, the guy had a kid but Ryan loved her too. What could go wrong? Well, Ryan's sister Ellie, that's what. Ellie is a flighty, love-em-and-leave-em kinda girl with a big heart who doesn't realize she dated the guy Ryan had fantasized about. But, like all of Ellie's other relationships, this one ended within two months, just in time to send Brady running off to take a job in Phoenix, taking Ryan's heart with him.Ryan never thought he'd see Brady again until eight years later Ryan's sister blindsides him by announcing that not only is Brady back in Atlanta but she'd asked him out on a date. And he'd accepted. As if that wasn't enough to send Ryan on a tailspin, a neighborhood girl brings him face to face with Brady in an unexpected way.Brady can't believe when he sees Ryan again. He assumed Ryan had moved on from Atlanta, like he'd always said he would. But Brady hasn't forgotten his cute, nerdy friend and wants nothing more than to have a chance to try the relationship they never got to have all those years ago, but convincing Ryan that he hadn't slept with Ellie proves difficult. Ryan is still hurt over the way they left things and makes it an uphill battle, but Brady has waited too long. He'll damn well give a good go of trying to get his man and with the help of his precocious teenage daughter and a little help from friends they may just get their Happily Ever After. *2nd Edition, has been re-edited and revised*

    His business is failing, his cottage is falling apart and following his very public argument with café owner Rob Armstrong, he’s become a social outcast.Cam needs to get away from his troubles and when his sister buys him a ticket to the biggest Hogmanay party in Glasgow, he can’t leave Inverbechie quick enough. But when events conspire to strand him in the middle of nowhere in a snowstorm, not only is he liable to miss the party, he’ll also have to ask his nemesis, Rob, for help.Out by Harper FoxCan a stranger unlock the courage and passion in a young man’s captive heart?It’s Christmas at Edinburgh’s magnificent Barlinney Hotel, and chief housekeeper Cosmo Grant is in charge of the festivities. He’s already got his hands full when handsome Ren Vaudrey checks in.It soon turns out that Ren is an undercover cop. Cosmo wants to help him, but unless he can do it within the Barlinney’s walls, Cosmo is stuck. A victim of crippling agoraphobia, he’s been a prisoner in this gilded cage for over a year. Cosmo gathers all his courage to do the right thing by Ren and Sam—and as a glittering Christmas Eve descends on the city, finds himself confronting his very darkest fears.Waiting for Winter by LB Gregg Some mistakes are worth repeating.Luke always thought he and Winter were the perfect couple—until the day Winter announced he was taking a new job and they were uprooting and headed for Germany. No discussion. No debate. For the first time in his life, Winter miscalculated. Badly. Now Luke is trying his best to move on with his life, but Winter is back in town and he’s set on digging their relationship out of the deep freeze.Baby, It's Cold by Josh Lanyon Or maybe it's the flu. Breaking up is hard to do -- especially around the holidays.Talk about Kitchen Nightmares! TV Chef Rocky and Foodie blogger Jesse have been pals forever, so it should have been the most natural thing in the world to move their relationship to the next level. Instead, it turned out to be a disaster. But Christmas is the season of love, and someone's cooking up a sweet surprise...

    But he would never forgive himself if the man he loved, Zach Roth, got himself killed in Idaho, so he agrees to go.Besides, he has something to prove. He wants Zach to know that its more than just Zach’s deliciously wicked body he adores. And if it takes spending Hanukkah in Zach's Grandma’s old hatchback to prove it, then so be it.Ever the optimist, Zach believes everything will turn out for the best. But bad weather, robberies, blown gaskets, run-ins with the police and motel bedspreads of questionable cleanliness seem to conspire against them, and they may need eight days of miracles just to keep each other and their romance alive.

    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...

    He doesn’t want me here. How many times do I need to hear him say it, shout it, snarl it at me, before I get it through my head that he means it? I wish I could turn my back on him and leave, and find someone easy. Someone warm and welcoming who would laugh when they see me, and give me a hug.But even though he doesn’t want me here, I still think, deep in my heart, that he needs me. And I just can’t walk away.Or maybe, I’m the one who still needs him.Photo Description: A beautiful, toned man lies on a bed of white linen, naked but for a black cord around his left wrist, and a sheet barely covering his lower body. His left arm is bent, his hand resting against his temple. He is lifting his right arm up, away from his body. Mussed, brown hair hangs low over his forehead, and thick stubble covers his chin. His dark eyes throw a questioning glare toward the camera.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" 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.

    Taking to the slopes like Bambi on ice, Ben isn't having much luck, until charming bearded beauty, Cal, comes crashing towards him in a flurry of snow at fifty miles an hour. From the moment Cal offers to help Ben get back on his skis, the attraction is instant and Ben is convinced that a man as perfect as Cal is out of his league. Womanizer Jonny wastes no time asking out a girl he meets on the slopes and he makes her promise to bring along a friend to keep Ben occupied that night in the Après-Ski Bar. When that friend turns out to be Cal, he's given the opportunity of a lifetime to wine and dine with a man of model like beauty, with a charismatic personality to match. When Cal invites Ben back to his Cabin, they find themselves trapped in an extreme whiteout and with the men forced to spend the Christmas holidays together, they quickly find they are doing more than roasting marshmallows next to the warm and inviting fire. *Contains gay sex scenes between an Oxford University Student and a sexy bearded cabin dweller*

    But when fate sends him a gift in the form of an abandoned puppy, he can’t keep his heart from melting. With the puppy’s companionship, he doesn’t feel so isolated anymore, and the holidays don’t seem as bleak. He even finds enough Christmas spirit to take Roger tree shopping. But just when Colt’s starting to hope Roger’s owner doesn’t show up… he does, and Colt doesn’t want to say goodbye.Will Roger end up being Colt’s Christmas heartbreak… or his Christmas miracle?

    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.

    Growing up in a broken home with an alcoholic mother and a revolving door of truly pathetic father figures taught him to keep his expectations low. Now at twenty-seven, on the night before Christmas Eve, his life is turned upside down yet again; his boyfriend has dumped him, he just fled the holiday family reunion from hell, and now to top it all off, a blizzard has left him stranded in an airport hotel. Steve Steele has spent the better part of his forty-four years living a lie, ignoring his attraction to other men in an attempt to fit into the mold of the man he thought he should be, instead of living life as the man he knew himself to be. Recently divorced after coming home from work one day and coming out to his wife, Steve has floundered over the past year, desperately attempting to wade through the guilt and find the courage to start again.That’s when a chance meeting in a hotel bar brings two lonely men together… and what should’ve been a one night stand turns into something much more than either one ever expected.

    So when Joe says Adam is straight—and Joe’s not—and they’re just best friends and roommates, Adam is more than a little confused. But as Adam starts to fill in the gaps, the one thing that becomes apparent is that Joe is the missing piece that can’t be replaced.

    On a guy. Not a big deal, except that said guy, Walter Chase, is a famous online gamer who has no idea Edgar even exists. Edgar has harbored these feelings for nearly a year, and when Walter announces on Twitter that he’ll be visiting New York City as a guest at the GamerOn convention, Edgar decides he’ll be one of the thousands of fans who responds to the message. He definitely doesn’t expect to be singled out by the humble, gorgeous, out-and-proud heartthrob. When it comes to dealing with people, Edgar’s skills are pretty nonexistent, even with Walter giving all the right signals. Edgar lacks the courage to do anything about the mutual attraction growing through their online courtship, but then again, he’s always been better with the written word. So maybe the perfect Christmas gift will say what he cannot. But if Edgar can’t get the present to Walter before the convention ends, he may miss out on the boyfriend of a lifetime.

    Dante was kissing someone else and claimed to be in love. So Noah took his heartbreak-and the sonogram pictures of their surrogate child-and closed the door on the big picture of what he thought his life would be, focusing instead on the piece of the dream he got to keep, being a father. Now on vacation in Las Vegas, Noah accidentally runs into the Cerreto family, and then the man himself, and learns that not only was he deceived, but Dante was as well. Now Dante wants to make up for lost time, six years' worth, and to do that he needs Noah, the only man he's ever loved, and Grace, the daughter he didn't know he had, to give him a chance at happiness. Dante's going to have to take a crash course in communication and seduction, though. Noah's not going to fall in love just to be broken again.

    Not me. That would be too clichéd. Then again, I never thought I’d stoop to sitting on Santa’s lap and asking him to bring me a boyfriend, either. In my defense, though, the man of my dreams had just knocked me into a store display ten minutes prior, so I wasn’t exactly thinking straight. Hah, but when did I ever. I never thought I’d see Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome again, but it looked like fate—or Santa—had other plans when I ran into him the following night. Seemed like I might be getting my Christmas wish after all, right? Right. So imagine my surprise when I showed up at my parents’ house for the holidays, only to find out that my sister had asked Santa for the exact same thing I did—and he’d delivered early. Yep, my sister scored herself a handsome new boyfriend, and he’s absolutely perfect. He’s charming, my parents love him, and even Lucifer the demon cat tolerates him. Oh, did I mention he also happens to be my dream guy? The one who’s supposed to be under my tree? Yeah. Merry freakin’ Christmas to me. Someone pass the hot buttered rum. This is a fun, feel-good MM Christmas novella.

    Henry Auttenberg likes numbers—it’s his job—but he isn’t going to count them all, even if the view outside the rental car is less confounding than the driver, his attractive but oh so obnoxious colleague, Marcus Winnamore. It’s Christmas Eve, and Henry would much rather be home with his family. When the blizzard that grounded their flight forces them off the road, however, he’s stuck with Marc until the storm passes—or a plow digs them out.As the temperature outside plummets, the atmosphere inside the car slowly heats up. Henry learns the true reason for Marc’s chilly distance—he’s not exactly straight… maybe… and he’s been fantasizing about Henry’s mouth, among other things. Confession laid out, Marc is all for sharing body heat… and more. Henry isn’t interested in being an experiment, but as the night and cold deepen, he could be convinced to balance certain risk against uncertain reward.

    Two days alone in a cabin with his husband? There’s no telling what kind of trouble they can get into. Wes isn’t fooled though. He knows this weekend is about more than just a sexy escape. When Braden lets him in on what he has planned, it has the potential to change their lives forever.Gavin and MasonIt’s the start of winter break and Gavin is looking forward to spending it working at Creekside with Mason…only he realizes that’s not the only thing he wants. He sets out on a path to give Mason the surprise of a lifetime, and the end result is a night neither man will ever forget.Noah and CooperCooper is determined to start a new holiday tradition. He’s planned an ugly sweater party that will go down in Blackcreek history. Not even Noah realizes everything he has in store for the night. If Coop can pull it all off without a hitch, the party will either be a huge success, or the biggest mistake of his life.Three couples, three major life events. It’s a December to remember for all our men in Blackcreek.40,000 words