One is a family man, works in a nice office, drives an expensive car, and is content to be content. The other one is an antisocial car mechanic with a short fuse.Some things don’t change. Others definitely do.After surviving a five-months long kidnapping together, they struggle to return to normalcy, all while realizing that they're more drawn to each other than they ever could've imagined."I know I'm not normal, but I'm not fucking stupid.""Define normal," Austin countered quietly, meeting Cam in the doorway. "And for not being normal, you're the only person in the world who makes sense right now. What does that say about me?"Warning: This story contains violence and scenes of an explicit, erotic nature between two men and is intended for adults, 18+.

    What he does have is a duffel bag, a lot of stories, and a junker car. Then one cold desert night he picks up a hitchhiker and ends up with something more: a letter from a dying man to the son he hasn’t seen in years. On a quest to deliver the letter, Jimmy travels to Rattlesnake, a small town nestled in the foothills of the California Sierras. The centerpiece of the town is the Rattlesnake Inn, where the bartender is handsome former cowboy Shane Little. Sparks fly, and when Jimmy’s car gives up the ghost, Shane gets him a job as handyman at the inn. Both within the community of Rattlesnake and in Shane’s arms, Jimmy finds an unaccustomed peace. But it can’t be a lasting thing. The open road continues to call, and surely Shane—a strong, proud man with a painful past and a difficult present—deserves better than a lying vagabond who can’t stay put for long.

    Charlie is surprised to discover the love of his life isn’t is straight as he always thought.When Charlie moved to the big city to get away from small town life and explore his sexuality, little did he know the man he’d always yearned for didn’t just happen to move to the same area.Marcus James had come to continue his lifelong goal of taking care of Charlie.

    No longer filling out his Santa suit or allowed to make merry, he's forgoing the holidays this year and heading to Vegas to indulge in the few vices left to him: gambling and anonymous sex.His road trip takes a detour when he encounters Chandler Tracey, who's just inherited guardianship of his five-year-old niece. Overwhelmed, Chandler's on his way to deliver Poppy to his parents. But fate has other plans and, after car trouble, Chandler and Poppy accept a ride home with Steve. Though the heat between the two men is obvious, they put it on simmer while they band together to make Poppy's Christmas as perfect as possible.Steve soon comes to believe that while Chandler is the right person to look after Poppy, someone needs to look after Chandler. Fortunately, Steve knows just the man for the job.

    Billy gains Darryl's respect with his earnest nature and willingness to work hard, but Billy's admiring looks resurrect pain and shame from Darryl’s past.Until Darryl stumbles across Billy's secret, Billy is suffering in silence: his father died a few months earlier, leaving him struggling to raise his twin five-year-old brothers. Darryl takes Billy and the boys to the restaurant, where they’ll stand together to face the smorgasbord of troubles in their future… while Davey, Donnie, and Billy all worm their way into Darryl’s heart.

    Being rescued by three sexy lumberjacks is fine as a fantasy, but in reality the biggest of the bears is awfully cranky and seems ready to gobble Frankie right up.Marcus Gardner wasn’t always a lumberjack—once a high-powered Minneapolis lawyer, he’s come home to Logan to lick his wounds, not play with a sassy city twink who might as well have stepped directly out of his past. But as the northwinds blow and guards come down, Frankie and Marcus find they have a lot more in common than they don’t. Could the man who won’t live in the country and the man who won’t go back to the city truly find a home together? Because the longer it snows, the deeper they fall in love, and all they want for Christmas is each other.

    But suddenly he starts receiving gifts from a secret admirer.With encouragement from his too-sexy roommate, Gilbert, Jesse opens himself to the idea that someone is actually interested in him. Though he has doubts, Jesse can't help but wonder if his admirer could finally be the man of his dreams.

    Ostracized by his Mormon family for his homosexuality, Levi is determined to live his life his own way, but everything changes when he meets massage therapist Jaime Marshall.Jaime is used to being alone. Haunted by the horrors of his past, his only friend is his faithful dog, Dolly. He has no idea how to handle somebody as gorgeous and vibrant as Levi.Complete opposites on the surface, Levi and Jaime both long for something that they can only find together. Through love and the therapeutic power of touch, they’ll find a way to heal each other, and they’ll learn to live as sinners in a family of saints.

    From dorms to the same women—and men. Bryce sees all the change happening around him, knows Wesley is getting fed up. They’ve been doing their dance of casually hooking up with one another and others since their college days.Now they've transitioned from care-free early twenties, to their late twenties and life is settling down, Wesley wants more. If he can't, he doesn't know if he can stay. But Bryce has the responsibility of a family business that fell on his shoulders after a tragedy, and doesn’t want to hold Wesley back in his small hometown, especially if he doesn’t know if he can commit for the right reasons.Others come and go but Wesley and Bryce have been each other's constant. Now that emotions run deeper, they have a huge decision to make. Do they go their separate ways, continue being best friends that eventually become exes, or do they take the next big step as a unit?

    Thrown out of his home for being gay, he is left without money or, it seems, anywhere to go. Until a stranger shows him that some people do give a lot more than a damn.Ben Hamilton is a rookie cop in his small home town. He finds a young throwaway, fresh from the city, sleeping on a bench in the churchyard on a snowy Christmas Eve. Can he be the one to give Zachary his own Christmas miracle?* * * * *First published December 2010

    Almost as bad as the still-overwhelming grief is the advice he gets from everyone and their brother, telling him to move on with his life. They’re flat-out wrong. Brett left his country music career and escaped to his ranch because needs the peace and quiet. He doesn’t want anyone invading his memory-filled, booze-fueled solitude.JT Campbell’s world had been defined by his parents’ money and his own empty relationships, until he couldn’t live that way anymore. A quest to find something more meaningful leads him to Brett’s ranch. It’s supposed to be a brief stay. JT never wanted to be anyone’s savior or compete with the ghosts of lovers past. Still, he can’t help wanting this gruff, mourning man.JT knows it’s a bad idea, but his heart keeps pushing him to find out what lies beneath Brett’s battered exterior. Brett’s not going to make it easy, so JT can only be patient, keep his sense of humor, and hope one day he’ll be allowed far enough into Brett’s world to unbreak his heart.

    His father has just discovered that Will is gay, and has beaten him and thrown him out of the house. But right now Will’s interested only in getting warm. Will’s college roommate Quinn is a soloist in the choir, which is practicing for a Christmas program. He discovers Will in the church—and his friend’s condition. Will, who has grown up in a repressed environment, including church school, an abusive father and a passive mother, is taken aback by Quinn’s enthusiasm and determination to take care of him. Does Will have a future after all, especially one that will include Quinn?

    So Seb isn’t really surprised to hear the voice of his dead partner in his head…Do something, love…When Honey won’t leave Phillip’s side, Seb does the only thing he can think of – invites Phillip to come home with him for breakfast. Something in the quiet man touches him, and he wants to know more.And leaving Phillip standing on that cliff is not an option.Originally published in the Burning First Kiss Anthology.

    His mother has been arrested for securities fraud, his father is on the run, and everyone, including the SEC, suspects Lane knows where the missing millions are. Lane, with no money and nowhere to live, makes a desperate deal that lands him in trouble and leaves him unwilling to trust a so-called Dom again.Photographer Derek Fields lost money to the Moredocks, and is as sure as anyone that Lane is guilty despite his claims. A chance meeting with Lane shows him there might be something more to the young man than arrogance and privilege, and Derek wonders if Lane might be just what he’s been looking for: a sub with the potential to be a life partner.As Lane slowly begins to open up to Derek and explore his needs as a submissive, the investigation closes tighter around him. Lane might be everything that Derek wants, but first Derek needs to trust that Lane is innocent—and Lane needs to trust Derek with the truth.Contains BDSM, some puppy play, and a very obnoxious macaw!

    2 (Books Three and Four)Three years ago, Jory Harcourt changed his name and shut the door on a past full of pain, only to emerge stronger on the other side. He has a new career, a great working partner, and a satisfying life—except for the hole in his chest left behind when police Detective Sam Kage walked out with his heart.Now Sam's back and he knows what he wants... and what he wants is Jory. Jory, who doesn't know if he can survive another break up or losing Sam to his dangerous job, resists returning to the arms of the only man he has ever truly loved. But when a serial killer with a score to settle targets Jory, he will have to decide if love is worth the danger as he tries to solve the case and keep Sam safe.