Forced to jump to the big city, he can’t believe his luck when he suddenly gets an offer from a prestigious publishing company. Absolutely ecstatic, Liam doesn’t even bother reading the details. But on his first day of work, he isn’t ushered to a quaint cubicle. Instead, he’s brought to a classy high-rise and told that he’s been hired to be the face of the best-selling author, Chase Preston. When Liam first meets Chase, he’s so captivated by the mysterious man’s imposing figure and deep-set eyes. Maybe Liam really did get lucky.All Liam has to do is go to fan meetings and award events as a stand-in for Chase. It actually doesn’t sound bad, but Liam soon realizes that being with Chase is harder than it appears. Despite the challenges of Chase’s arrogant attitude, Liam puts up with it. What he finds difficult to put up with is Chase’s sexy body and brilliant blue eyes.Even worse, the feeling may be mutual.

    Sure, he spent five years in a coma only to wake with a right leg that’s practically useless and no memories other than his name. But now he’s under the care of sassy southern surrogate mother, Chloe Devereaux, spending his days painting and healing. Giordan wants for nothing at all… until he looks out the window one morning and sees Chloe's gorgeous son, Shane, standing there. Something very familiar stirs in Giordan. When he sketches, Giordan is able to go into an “art trance” where pieces of disjointed memory come back to him without time or place. More and more of these flashes are of Shane Devereaux and the intense, intimate experiences they shared together. Even though Shane keeps his distance now, Giordan is convinced his flashes are real. But he doesn’t have the whole story. Giordan is determined to fill in his memory blanks and convince Shane his feelings are genuine.

    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

    The Faradays have supported Alex through his struggles with being bipolar. He loves them as he loves nothing else, but this year, his excitement for the holiday has less to do with the family as a whole and more to do with their youngest son, Everett.Everett is Alex’s best friend and the love of his life, but for years, Alex has been consumed by the idea that he is a burden on the family, and worried that someone as amazing as Everett would never truly want a man constantly on guard against his own mind. But last Christmas, with his career doing well, and his life as stable as it likely will ever be, Alex finally let himself respond to Everett’s open adoration—with one condition. A year without seeing Everett to be sure he can stand on his own without Everett’s ready support. Alex needs to know that he can, for his own sake and for Everett’s, because he has already failed once, and it nearly destroyed them both.There will never be a time when Alex is perfect. But this is as close as it gets, and he is tired of waiting. This Christmas, all he can hope for is that Everett still wants him, and that he can be brave enough to keep his promise.

    Divorce attorney and live-in boyfriend Owen, however, believes just as passionately that the gay community should focus on a plurality of equal rights protections instead of allocating so many resources and man-hours to one hot button issue.Owen won’t marry Seth.Relationship deteriorating, the couple visits the Murphy farm outside Brunswick for Christmas. Seth’s family never considered that Seth and Owen wouldn’t be first in line for a marriage license as soon as same-sex marriage passed. When they find out there won’t be a wedding, their season of miracles is invaded by pornographic gingerbread cookies, frowning church ladies, and a determined father with a tactical assault shotgun.Neither Seth, Owen, nor their love may survive the family holiday circus to say, “I don’t.”

    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.

    Painfully shy, it's sometimes all he can do to communicate when he's face to face with anyone. The fact that he has unusually red hair and gorgeous green eyes only makes it worse because people don't want him to hide. But then he's called upon to troubleshoot a problem with the laptop of Yoshiki Fukui, a big shot executive with his company. Ki is brash, outgoing and painfully handsome and just being in his presence makes Aaron all jittery. When Ki asks Aaron to help him set up a state-of-the-art entertainment system in his new house, Aaron can't resist the lure. Little does he suspect that Ki's got more than just technical help in mind. Publisher's Note: Tech Support is a yaoi-inspired novella. As such, it contains material that may be offensive to some readers: male/male sexual practices.

    Reed has crafted a new fairy tale for our times that manages to be ethereal, romantic and ripped-from-the-headlines realistic.Beau is a down-on-his-luck street artist living on the streets of Seattle, drawing portraits of tourists to make enough money to live hand-to-mouth. He has a knack for capturing his subjects’ “very souls” on paper. One rainy night, he is accosted by a group of fag-bashing thugs, intent on robbing him of his art supplies and humiliating Beau for who he is. Beau is beaten into unconsciousness......And awakens in a beautiful bedroom, his head bandaged and with no memory of how he got there. Outside his window pine trees and mountain vistas beckon.Beau’s tale grows even more mysterious when a large, muscular man begins bringing the injured Beau his food. The man says nothing—and wears a wolf mask. When he finally does speak, it’s only to tell Beau to call him “Beast.”What secrets does the wolf mask hide? What do these two outsiders have in common? And will their odd circumstances bring them to the brink of love—or tear them apart? The answers lie in Rick R. Reed’s haunting love story that reveals that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

    Clumsy, socially inept, and a lot tongue-tied around cute guys, he just doesn't get out much. Meeting people on the Internet is much easier, especially when it's someone like "Wheels," who's really fun to talk to. Meeting Brian, aka Wheels, in person is a lot more intimidating at first, but Gordy soon sees past the wheelchair Brian is bound to and finds the most wonderful match, someone who really likes him, insecurities and all. With a good dose of heat and a lot of heartwarming fun, Gordy finds out through Brian that maybe he's not such a disaster after all. At least not when it comes to love.

    Found: love.RV resort security chief Ringo never believed in love at first sight . . . until he saw Gavin playing his sax on the beach for the tourists. But their on-again, off-again affair—even counting all the great makeup sex—doesn’t come close to the relationship he wants. All he really wants for Christmas is a commitment from Gavin.Instead he discovers that Gavin has had surgery without telling him, so he lays down a relationship ultimatum while Gavin recuperates. Complicating matters even more, Gavin’s beloved dog Bird runs away, and Gavin blames Ringo for the disappearance.While Ringo throws every resource he has into finding Bird, he learns deeper truths about Gavin—how hard it is for him to trust and how little faith he has in love. Maybe if Ringo can find Bird, he can salvage Gavin’s faith. Maybe this Christmas, they can all find each other.20% of all proceeds from this title are donated to the Ali Forney Center in New York, whose mission “is to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning (LGBTQ) youth from the harm of homelessness, and to support them in becoming safe and independent as they move from adolescence to adulthood.” To learn more about this charity or to donate directly, please visit http://www.aliforneycenter.org/.

    From the moment Patrick meets Alexei’s eyes over the body of another Russian mobster, Alexei is a thorn in Patrick’s side, refusing to cooperate with the police and turning all of Patrick’s questions back on him. Alexei’s hard-as-nails persona whets Patrick’s professional determination to get the information he’s sure the gangster is hiding, while personally Patrick just wants to get his hands on Alexei’s hard body.The tattoos marking Alexei’s skin tell the story of his criminal past, but the more Patrick learns about Alexei, the more he wants to know, until he finds himself over his head in a relationship that might cost him his job and could well cost Alexei his life. Alexei is equally fascinated by Patrick’s willingness to overlook his past and even his present associations, but he has secrets of his own that could drive a wedge between them forever.

    Since we were supposed to be rivals and everyone expected us to fight, we just did it. But then we met under completely unexpected circumstances and realized that neither of us is the prick we thought the other one was. Eventually, we became friends and now I cannot imagine a life without him. Just a few people know that we only fight for publicity now and actually like each other very much.But during our last “fight” something went awfully wrong. He grabbed me in front of the cameras and kissed me! And I liked it! Now, everyone asks me if we are gay or if that was some kind of prank. But I really don’t know! I need to talk to him but he doesn’t react to my phone calls. The only thing I know is that I don’t want to lose him.Photo Description: Two men stand whisper-close, one second from a kiss.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.

    He was a very thorough and hard worker, and had been praised for that by his supervisor on so many occasions that he'd lost count, and something had to happen very many times before Isaac lost count of it.Words: 21382 in two partsAlso on Ao3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/785559This story is also available for purchase at Smashwords.

    Touched by Caleb's story, Charlie agrees to help. When Charlie manages to track down Junior, he discovers the man has long since changed his name to James Marshall and wants absolutely nothing to do with his father. Charlie understands James's anger; Charlie spent most of his adolescence trying to convince his own incarcerated father to see him, but his father always pushed him away. Now, Charlie has nothing but regret for the past and the lost opportunities, and he wants to spare James the same fate. But Charlie's attempts to help James forgive and forget become complicated by feelings he hasn't experienced since the death of his husband. For them to have any chance at finding happiness, James will have to end his self-imposed emotional isolation, but will Charlie's efforts bring James closer or push him further away?

     After months of exploring his bisexuality on his own, college student Chase Randolph is ready for a night out on the town—all the way “out”. He never expected Alex Landry to witness his first experimental sexual encounter, though. Chase has been attracted to his best friend and roommate forever, but one thing is sure: Alex is straight. So straight, he’s never caught on to Chase’s mixed tastes. Alex assures Chase they will always be friends, but privately, his own reaction shocks him. An ex-jock isn’t supposed to fantasize about his roommate. Not supposed to need another man’s kiss so badly it makes him sweat. He was prepared to change direction after his football career ended before it began, but change this drastically? As Chase and Alex struggle to come to terms with the changes in their relationship, jealousy pushes friendship to the brink—of disaster…or love. Warning: No heaving bosoms here, just two gorgeous guys, lots of muscles and some closet doors banging wide open.