But when he meets Marcello, a sexy and mysterious stranger working at a restaurant in Providence’s Little Italy, he can’t fight his compulsion to pursue him. But while Marcello is willing to let Brendan into his bedroom, he’s stubbornly elusive about his past and his family. Fixated on discovering the truth, Brendan’s passion for Marcello turns out to be far more dangerous than he ever anticipated.

    Coming out and coming of age in the days of AIDS, MTV, Reaganomics, and Just Say No. Daron Marks is a young guitar player with a dream, make it big like the guys he grew up idolizing in New Jersey--or at least escape his dysfunctional family. He makes it as far as music school in Rhode Island, and the stages of Boston beckon. But it's hard to succeed from the closet.

    He has a small circle of close friends, a career he loves, and a baby on the way via a surrogate. Mr. Right is nowhere to be found, but Lee isn’t about to let that little tidbit rain on his parade. He’s more than willing to thrust his other needs aside and focus on fulfilling his lifelong dream of being a father.With his love life in the gutter, Lee turns to fantasies of his hunky neighbor, Finn Alexander. His daydreaming is merely a harmless diversion until Finn comes to Lee’s rescue on a dark and stormy night.To Lee’s surprise, the chemistry they shared in his imagination is nothing compared to the real thing. Finn is as hot between the sheets as Lee always envisioned. Better still, they get along famously outside the bedroom. The only things standing in the way of Lee having it all are the bundle of joy due any minute and Finn’s apparent aversion to children.

    Do they dare to be more? After a bad breakup, Alex Abbott is living with his parents and looking for a job. The best thing about being home is seeing his closest friend again. Going away to college didn’t diminish Alex’s attraction to Gavin Crawford one bit … but Gavin is straight, and doesn’t even know Alex is gay. Gavin is tired of serial monogamy. For now, all his energies are going into his fledgling motorcycle shop. Reconnecting with Alex gives him a boost, as does the other man’s offer to help him with advertising. But when Alex confesses he’s gay, Gavin’s initial surprise is quickly overcome by curiosity … and other feelings it’s more difficult to put a name to. Alex is relieved by Gavin’s acceptance, but becoming more than friends is fraught with danger. If he lets himself fall for the one man he’s always wanted, his heart will be shattered once Gavin goes back to women. Will Alex risk everything? And if he does, how can Gavin convince him that he’s not just playing around this time?

    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.

    One of those promises was to stay in touch and keep seeing each other. But Chad never called, and Jeff remained behind to finish high school. Chad broke Jeff’s heart, but both men suffered. Chad couldn’t forgive himself for being a coward and not standing up to his parents, and Jeff wouldn’t let anyone into his heart again to hurt him. A year after Katrina and ten years after that fateful summer, Chad and Jeff meet again, only this time it’s in the ER of a local hospital. Chad is the attending doctor and Jeff is an assault victim, on the brink of death. Chad is once again swept into the past by the only man he’s ever loved, and like before, Chad makes promises to Jeff—promises he will keep, or else. When Jeff awakes from a coma, he finds the man who broke his heart sitting in his hospital room. Angry, confused and scared, Jeff has no defense against this man. And he also has no one else to care for him, only Chad. After all these years, Jeff’s dream has finally come true, Chad is back in his life. But for how long? And is Jeff willing to open his heart to the man who broke it?

    The problem? I’m not sure I’m ready for the rest of the world to know I’ve fallen for my best friend. Everyone knows Max is gay. Me? They think I’m straight as an arrow. So did I, until Max and I shared a kiss three months ago that blew that theory right out of the water.Now, by the ocean in Florida, thousands of miles away from prying eyes, I’m finally ready to admit to myself that Max and I have something special. Max has been ready for a long time—and he’s been waiting for me. Really waiting. As in…he’s still a virgin.There’s nothing I want more than to be Max’s first lover. But I know when Max gives away that part of himself, it won’t be just a summer fling. It’ll be for keeps. Max deserves the best. I’m just not sure, when it comes right down to it, that I won’t break his heart.Did I mention I’m scared as hell?Product Warnings: This title features summer lovin’ between two hot men, a secret romance between best friends—one of whom doesn’t think he’s actually gay, and enough heat to set any beach vacation on fire. Be sure to keep the extinguisher handy!

    Instead, his overprotective corporate CEO mother demands that he stay in New York City and help her evaluate the benefits of a potential merger. Jordy agrees, but resents to constant presence of his mother's spy, her administrative assistant, Ken. Until one night he sends Ken out on an errand and discovers a sketch of the two of them together that throws his life into a tailspin. After suffering through traumatic childhood events, Jordy believed he'd never be able to get close to anyone, especially a man, but he can't stop thinking about the drawing and Ken. Ken thinks that Jordy is out of his league and he has family responsibilities that mean he can't risk his job by pursuing his boss' son, but neither can he deny his attraction. Jordy and Ken have to decide if there are too many obstacles between them or if they can somehow create a merger of equals.STORY INFO:Genre: contemporaryTags: businessmen/lawyers, sweet no sex, abduction/kidnapping, hurt/comfort, coming outContent Notice: off-page deaths of background characters, off-page child abduction, discussion of past child abuse; discussion of past sexual abuseWord count: 23,435Author's note: This story has a Happy For Now ending, but it's only the beginning. Unfortunately, when the boys' tale took on a life of it's own and grew much more complicated than I ever anticipated, I was unable to write out the whole story due to the LHNB event deadline and other simultaneous obligations. I am, however, planning a follow up that will tie up all loose ends and will hopefully be available in the first quarter of 2014.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.

    The change throws Larry's life into limbo until he meets Joshua Langdon.To Joshua, Larry is a lion: growly and strong, but too proud to ask for help. Joshua gets past his defenses and finds a place in Larry and Angus's family, but Larry's pride gets in the way. Can they turn their holiday romance into a relationship that lasts into the New Year?

    As the group has gotten older and gone off to college, the games have become fewer and further between. Now with graduation looming just around the corner, the group decides to get together over their final Spring Break to play a few more rounds while they still can.The game starts no differently than any other they’ve played for the past several years, but this time Jackson’s best friend takes an opportunity to corner him into kissing Chet Montgomery. Chet makes good on the dare to kiss Jackson without any hesitation. But it’s when the kiss ends that Jackson’s confusion begins.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. Dear Author,It started with too many shots of Jack and a game of “Truth or Dare?”. It was only supposed to be a quick kiss. I’ve never kissed another guy before. So why did I find myself back in his arms, lost in his brown eyes the next night? And why does the thought of never kissing him again make me feel like I would be missing out on the hottest thing in my life?Photo Description: A photo of two cowboys in their early twenties kissing in a barn. One man wears a maroon-and-white gingham shirt and a black Stetson, and the other a blue-and-white gingham shirt and a straw-colored Stetson.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.

    Sadly, Russell Moore isn’t so blessed. Since his coming out and marriage prompted a less-than-joyful reaction from his religious parents, Russ has kept his distance to avoid their conservative disapproval. With his husband David deployed overseas for the second Christmas in a row, Russ gives in to the loneliness and takes his stepchildren to meet his parents for the first time, hoping the “goodwill toward men” spirit will overcome his mother’s zealotry. But Russ’s Christmas joy is too quickly deflated by his mother’s unmet expectations, leaving Russ to ponder if peace, love, and perhaps matricide go hand in hand.

    Great job, great boss, and he can keep an eye on his mom. The one thorn in his side is major league pitcher Brandon Halvorsen, The Great Dane. The stuffy, stick-in-the-mud straight guy is one of his boss' best clients, and the guy annoys the hell out of Angel. Huge changes are happening in Brandon's life, and he needs help. Becoming an instant father was not on his list of things to do. Ever. He sure as heck wasn't planning on the snotty, gorgeous Angel being the solution to his problem, but stranger things have happened. What happens when hip, LA-cool Angel is dragged into famous jock Brandon's world? Life gets interesting, and hot, in a hurry.

    Still trying to rebuild his career after the mortgage crises, and to reconnect with the kids he's been too busy for, the last thing Jake is looking for is love. Especially with a man.Cade Littlebear isn't looking for love either, but he and Jake have an immediate attraction that neither of them are able to deny. Just when they think that combining their lives and their teenaged families is going to be their toughest challenge, their very existence is threatened by narrow-mined bigots. Their determination not to hide who they are and refusal to live in the shadows only adds fuel to the fire. Can Jake and Cade survive and bring their lives and families together? Or will hatred win the day?

    Professionally run and staffed by friendly, personable -- and hot -- talent, it's a heck of a temptation even for someone who's never thought about getting down with a guy before. Trouble is, Aaron finds he likes the action more than he thought he would -- and he's starting to see Cody in an entirely different light. What's a guy supposed to do now?

     Featuring seven brand new novellas, each answering the question—what happens when the one meant for you was right there all along?