The Bravest Thing
Laura Lascarso - 2017
Then Hiroku Hayashi swerves into the high school parking lot on his tricked-out motorcycle like some sexy comic book villain, and Berlin knows he doesn’t stand a chance. Hiroku is fleeing his sophisticated urban scene to recover from drug addiction and an abusive relationship when he arrives in Berlin’s small Texas ranch town. Initially sarcastic and aloof, Hiroku finds in Berlin a steady, supportive friend who soon becomes more. As Hiroku and Berlin’s romance blossoms, they take greater risks to be together. But when a horrific act of violence tears them apart, they both must look bigotry in the face. While Berlin has always turned to his faith for strength, Hiroku dives into increasingly dangerous ways of coping, pushing them in opposite directions just when they need each other most. Two very different young men search for the bravery to be true to themselves, the courage to heal, and the strength to go on when things seem darkest. But is it enough to bring them back together?
Worth Keeping
Susan Mac Nicol - 2013
Mostly. Other days life seems a little much. Especially when Nick knows he’ll always be alone. On those days his thoughts turn black. He walks the Norfolk coast and considers the frigid embrace of the waves. And then, one stormy night, he finds someone who’s tasted just that. The beautiful stranger on the beach is near death, and Nick rushes him home to slowly nurse back to health. As he does, he finds a love unlike any other. Owen Butler’s body is as warm as the sea was cold, his heart as big as an ocean. And Owen is a man who swears to repay the favor. Nick can yet be saved from himself, and he will see that he is indeed a man ... worth keeping.
Inevitable
Briar Prescott - 2021
We were always inevitable.When Drew meets Ezra, he doesn’t expect much. A one-night stand and a quick goodbye in the morning. That’s how these things usually go. Only there’s nothing usual about Ezra and the connection that forms between them.When Ezra meets Drew, he doesn’t expect much. A distraction and parting as strangers after a night of meaningless fun. That’s how these things usually go. Only there’s nothing meaningless about Drew and the relentless spark between them that just refuses to disappear.When Bas meets Ezra… things get complicated. As if being hopelessly in love with his best friend isn't painful enough. Throw in an unexpected friendship that develops with the one-time hookup of said best friend, and the results are messy at best.But sometimes beautiful things emerge from messy and complicated beginnings, and where two isn't enough, three might be just perfect.
Kamikaze Boys
Jay Bell - 2012
Find yourself a kindred spirit. Then you can start fighting back.They say Connor, the one with the crazy eyes and creepy scar, tried to kill his old man. Lately he’s been seen hanging out with David, the gay guy who always eats lunch alone. They make an odd pair, the loser and the psychopath, and bad things happen to people who mess with them. Not that Connor and David are looking for trouble. Even when taking on the world, they seem more interested in each other than fighting.Kamikaze Boys is a story about breaking the chains that bind you and using them to beat down anyone that gets in your way. Better yet, it’s about holding hands with the guy you love while doing so.
Iris
Eden Finley - 2022
Knights in shining … camo.
Iris I live for adrenaline. The thrill of the chase. And because I work for Mike Bravo, a private black-ops firm, it’s my job to go into dangerous situations.But when we’re called in to extract a military team from a hostile situation, the thrill is so much better. Because one of those men happen to be the golden boy from my basic training days.Brock “Saint” Harlow was a walking Captain America in the flesh. The perfect soldier.Now my boss wants to recruit him, and I can’t wait to rub it in his face that he was rescued by me. The class clown.I’m not called Iris “I require intense supervision” for nothing. Saint Military life is all I’ve known since I was born. I was raised to be a soldier.But when a top-secret mission fails, I find myself suddenly discharged with nowhere to go.Mike Bravo saved my life, and they want me to join them, but there’s one small problem.Isaac “Iris” Griffin.He’s as irresistibly snarky as he always was, only there’s a big difference this time. I’m no longer closeted or scared to live my truth. And the truth is, I’ve always wanted him.It’s against Mike Bravo’s rules to fraternize with other team members, and I always follow orders.But something tells me Iris might be worth the insubordination.
Forget Me Not
Brooke Blaine - 2018
That’s how you took your coffee every morning at Joe’s Grab ’N Go.But you don’t remember that. You don’t remember anything. Anything, that is, except me…That day…And the tragedy that catapulted us together. Ollie & Reid's journey concludes in book two, Remember Me When, out now!
Found
Annabella Michaels - 2018
So, when Micah, his boss at Hamilton Security, asks him to take on a special case, he readily accepts. Micah’s instructions are simple, find the man in the picture and bring him back to Chicago.Seven years ago, Zane Wilkinson left the hospital against doctor’s orders, only to suffer a final, devastating blow that left him with no choice but to leave the only place he’d called home. Feeling heartbroken and empty, Zane moved from town to town just trying to survive, while never letting anyone get too close.In a chance encounter, Jeremy finds himself crossing paths with a man who fits Zane’s description. His instincts tell him that he’s on to something, but Micah warns him that he needs to be absolutely sure. Jeremy sets a plan in motion that will allow him to get closer to the man he believes to be Zane. However, the closer he gets, the more he likes the man and begins to question why he was sent to find him.Will Jeremy be able to follow through with his orders without becoming too attached? Or will he realize that in his search for Zane, he’s found so much more than he bargained for?
Violated
Jamie Fessenden - 2015
One night of drunken horsing around in their hotel room leads to the most intensely personal violation Derek has ever endured. As if the humiliation of working under his attacker every day isn’t enough, Victor reports Derek for sexual harassment. Now he’s without a job, without a boyfriend, and the mortgage on the cabin is due. Officer Russ Thomas has worked with rape victims before, and it doesn’t take him long to sort out the truth in Derek’s tale. With his support, Derek finally reports the crime, months after it happened. But restraining orders and lawyers further Victor’s anger toward him, and even though a relationship develops between Derek and the policeman, Russ can’t be there to protect him all the time.
Lost and Found
Lucy Lennox - 2017
But when I needed him the most, that was exactly what he did…Wilderness guide Xander Reed has spent fifteen years trying to forget the night he turned to his best friend in his darkest hour, only to find the young man who’d sworn to always have his back was turning his on Xander instead. Two thousand miles and fifteen years of building a new life in the quiet backcountry of the Rocky Mountains should have been enough to put the memory of Bennett Crawford out of his mind forever, but old wounds run deep and when Bennett suddenly reappears in his life as part of a wilderness expedition Xander is guiding, the scars he thought long healed break wide open.I’d only ever wanted to protect Xander from getting hurt again. I never considered the one he needed protection from was me…Bennett Crawford was faced with an impossible choice the night his best friend needed him.He chose wrong.As the only son of one of the wealthiest families in New England, he should have had the world at his feet, but losing his best friend at the tender age of fourteen changed everything. And even though Bennett’s managed to hide behind a mask of contentment as he takes his place at his father’s side in the family business, inside he’s searching for the piece of himself that’s been missing ever since Xander Reed walked out of his life. Bennett’s only saving grace is his work with a group of inner city kids, and when he’s given the chance to show the troubled teens that there’s a bigger world out there waiting for them if they just have the courage to reach for it, he takes it.But when he steps off that bus for what was supposed to be a week of fun and adventure, he’s instantly returned to the past when he discovers their expedition guide is none other than the boy he let go so long ago. Only, the soft-hearted, insecure little boy Bennett once knew is gone, and in his place is a brooding, bitter man who isn’t interested in second chances.People leave. I know that now and nothing Bennett has to say to me will change anything…All Bennett wants is another chance to show Xander that friendship was only the beginning. But when a stubborn Xander refuses to even hear him out, Bennett realizes he’s going to need to fight dirty.Because now that he’s found Xander again, he’s not letting him go a second time…
A Love Song for the Sad Man in the White Coat
Roe Horvat - 2017
Whether it was his Catholic upbringing or the poetry he'd read - Simon had thought that true love would be uplifting, fulfilling, that it would give a meaning to his loitering, and add joy to his leisure. But not this kind of love. This love was a flesh-eating monster, sharp-clawed and evil-eyed, ravishing his mind with medieval cruelty.Dr Simon Mráz is a respected specialist and lecturer at the Charles University in Prague. He is a serious man, responsible. His students call him The Cruel Doctor Frost not because he's unkind, but because of his unwavering, ice-cold composure. As a psychiatrist, he values sanity. And sanity can be found in work, restraint, and self-control.Not many know of that one time in the past when The Cruel Doctor Frost lost his cool. His ill-advised, secret affair with a student left Simon deeply wounded. Since that day, every minute of Simon's life has been a struggle to remain sane, functioning. He's managed so far - as long as he is needed, as long as his work makes a difference, Simon can scrape together enough strength to get up in the morning and run off the nightmares. But when his friends begin drifting away, his beloved protégé becomes independent, and the man who bereaved Simon of his precious sanity might return... Simon's mind and body stop responding to his impressive willpower.
A Better Man
Jaime Reese - 2012
After a five-year prison term that alters every aspect of his life, he receives a bequest from his aunt with the stipulation that he use the money to make things right. Breaking free of the long-standing role he’s played and inspired by the few who support him, he decides to create a safe place where people like him can find purpose and start a new life.Julian Capeletti likes challenges. He is confident, brash, stubborn, and just what Matt needs. Desperate for work after a downturn of luck, he accepts the job to renovate Matt’s crumbling building.Over the course of a year, romance simmers between them as they restore the house. But there’s a bigger renovation that must take place in their hearts. To become better men, they need to learn to trust each other even with secrets and painful memories they fear may rip them apart. ----------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: 2nd edition is revised and expanded.
Last of the Summer Tomatoes
Sherrie Henry - 2013
But instead of being sent to a juvenile detention center like he expected, he is given a chance to commute his sentence by working on a farm for the summer. Enter Sam, son of the farm owners, who shows Kyle what he feels is perfectly normal and that he doesn’t have to hide from his feelings. In turn, Sam’s parents show Kyle that his abusive stepfather and battered mother are not the norm. With their love and support, Kyle finds his place in the world—by Sam’s side.
Mason's Run
Mellanie Rourke - 2019
I was used, abused and sold for sex from a young age by those who should have protected me. An unexpected moment of compassion from a stranger gave me a chance at a new life. Though I've started over, my scars run deep. I'm an LGBTQ graphic novel writer and artist with a huge following, but I'm terrified of the world, and of my tormentors finding me. When I discover that the stranger who has saved me from a life of abuse is the same man who has finally awakened my body to desire, I realize the truth: Can I ever really be free if I'm still afraid of my past and the people who have shattered me? Lee Serving as a medic in the Middle East, I felt the life of my fiancé slip away under my hands and was powerless to stop it. Discharged with physical and emotional wounds I can't heal, I go home to my crazy, geeky family and try to learn to live with the damage. Pain and grief lead me to some acts I'm not proud of, including paying strangers for sex. I'm determined to keep it strictly business with no emotions involved, but when I discover that Mason Malone isn't a high-end escort, but a battered young man who has been forced into a life of pain and degradation, I'm frozen in indecision. Then the man with the raven curls and blue-gold eyes whispers, "Please..." and the barriers I’ve built around my heart shatter. Years later, fate brings us back together. He has a new name and career, but I’ve never been able to forget those eyes. Mason, unfortunately, doesn't recognize me. Every day I find myself more and more drawn to him, but I'm terrified of what will happen when my secrets are discovered. As both our pasts threaten our future, can we find a path to redemption? Or will the discovery of the truth create a chasm too wide to bridge? Can love and forgiveness overcome soul- shattering pain?A Twin Peeks Bookstore Romance.
Nobody's Hero
J. Leigh Bailey - 2015
Now Bradley has seventeen dollars and a gas card, and he’s sleeping in his car. He’s an emotional mess and if he doesn’t land a job soon, he’s up the proverbial creek.Danny Ortega can take care of himself…most of the time. When what started as a date turns into sexual assault in a dark parking lot, he’s grateful for Brad’s help—and an instant admirer of Brad’s military school-honed muscles. He certainly doesn’t expect to see him again, and definitely not as the newest hire at Ortega Construction.As Brad and Danny’s quiet attraction turns into more, things start to go sour before they’ve even started. Danny grows frustrated that Brad won’t open up emotionally. And Brad is terrified of being responsible for someone else’s feelings. When Brad’s family makes one last attempt to turn him into an “acceptable” son, all bets are off—he and Danny will need to decide if they’re in this together…or apart.
The Ballerino and the Biker
Rebecca James - 2018
After years studying the art in Milan, Morgan comes home to New York City to apprentice with the Manhattan Ballet Company only to be hit by the unexpected death of his older brother, Jake. The grieving dancer learns his life is threatened by a dangerous rival motorcycle gang and that pierced, tattooed, HOT biker Zeke Ivers has been assigned by Jake’s MC to guard him. Saddled with the constant presence of the infuriating man, Morgan juggles the demands of an exhausting dance schedule as well as his new responsibilities as CEO of his family’s multi-million-dollar company. He never expects to develop an attraction for the straight, obnoxious biker, but that’s exactly what happens. Estranged from an abusive family, Zeke Ivers has lived at the Sentinel’s club house and worked on cars since he was a teen. When fellow club member Jake Wentworth and a rival club president’s girl are killed on Jake’s bike, the Sentinel’s president delegates the protection of Jake’s little brother, Morgan, to Zeke. Zeke would do anything for the club that pulled him off the streets, but Morgan’s a ballet dancer, for Christ’s sake, as well as annoying as hell. Still, Zeke finds himself inexplicably drawn to the young man. The more attracted Zeke becomes to Morgan, the more the biker is forced to examine his sexuality and decide whether two people from opposite sides of the tracks could possibly have a future together, or if Zeke should do what is fast becoming too painful to consider: let Morgan go.