That’s what rugby player Hunter Best’s mother told him before she died. But when Hunter surprises an intruder in his Chicago apartment, he discovers her amulet stolen. Hunter pursues the thief—all the way through a strange vortex. He wakes in a bizarre and violent world, a benighted realm on the threshold of civil war. The queen has become a ruthless tyrant, punishing any who oppose her, weakening the kingdom’s defenses against the brutal Henerans. To survive, Hunter must depend on the man who robbed him, a handsome former spy named Dax, now a leader of the resistance that believes the queen is an imposter—a Heneran disguised by magic… who also looks identical to Hunter’s mother. There’s no love lost between Hunter and Dax, and even if Hunter grudgingly agrees with the resistance, he just wants to reclaim his property and go home. But he might be the only one who can oppose the queen and end her reign of terror.

    It is the first in a series of gothic m/m romance anthologies called gothika. The stories in this volume are:Made For Aaron by Sue BrownAs a teenager, Aaron Fox was sent to an asylum by his parents because he was gay, leaving him emotionally fragile after the treatment. However it gave him Damon Fox, the nurse he later married. For over twenty years, Damon’s devotion and strength has never faltered. When Damon is killed in a car accident, Aaron’s devastation soon gives way to confusion when he is shown Damon walking away from the hospital. Despite a desperate search, Damon isn’t seen again, and if Aaron can’t live with Damon, he may not want to live at all. But forces beyond Aaron’s understanding work behind the scenes, and if he can find the courage to unveil the secrets, he might get a second chance at happiness.Watchworks by Jamie FessendenHarland Wallace made his name as one of the premiere watchmakers in Victorian London, so he isn’t surprised when a handsome young gentleman named Luke Prescott comes to his townhouse to hire him for a repair job. He is apprehensive when he discovers it is not a watch Mr. Prescott wants repaired, but a complex prosthesis he has in place of a hand.As further repairs are needed, Harland begins to wonder how much of Mr. Prescott is real and how much is mechanical, but he cannot deny the growing attraction he feels toward him. When he learns Prescott’s household servants pose a threat to the man they see as a monster, Harland must choose between what his culture tells him is wrong and what his heart tells him is right.The Golem of Mala Lubovnya by Kim FieldingIn a small, 17th-century Eastern European town, a rabbi creates a man of clay—a golem—to protect the Jewish people from the threat of pogrom. Awaiting a call to duty, the golem spends a long time confined to an attic, lonely and sad. His only joys are watching the stonemason at work across the street and listening to a lovely voice singing prayers. When the golem meets the mason, Jakob, the two become friends, and Jakob names the golem Emet. But devout Jakob struggles with his attraction to Emet, and Emet dreads being used as an instrument for violence. Though Emet’s name means truth, honest love between a faithful man and a golem will only survive if they risk everything for a miracle.Reparation by Eli EastonOn the harsh planet of Kalan, weakness is not tolerated. When young spore farmer Edward suffers an carriage accident that kills his mail-order bride and his factory manager, Edward has little chance of survival, until Knox—an enormous “reconstitute” labor slave—plucks him from disaster. Recons are part machine, part human remains from executed Federation prisoners. But Knox is different from other recons. He can read and has flashes of brilliance. With no one else to rely on over the bleak winter, Edward forms an alliance with Knox, and against social taboos, they become friends. Edward struggles against his growing lust for the large humanoid, and while Knox thrives in his new life, memories of his past torment him.A twist of fate brought Knox and Edward together, but there will be a price to pay in blood when they learn how deeply their lives truly intersect.

    I was injured in my last deployment to Afghanistan and lost my leg. My partner of ten years left when I needed him the most, and he took my beloved dog along with him. After months of depression, denial, and a stint in the hospital because of alcohol poisoning, my brother finally insisted I see a therapist to get the help I needed. Little did I know that my luck was about to change the moment I stepped into that office.Photo Description: A handsome, athletic young man working out in a gymnasium, and supporting himself on a pair of hand rings. His right leg is missing from the knee down, replaced with a skeletal prosthesis. His expression is calm and thoughtful, as though he is completely focused on his workout. His chest is bare, and displays an array of colourful tattoos.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. 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.

    For the past few years, GRNW has helped to see those stories reach more of the LGBTQ community, and gain traction is libraries and beyond.Furthering that goal is this collection of fiction and essays, including information on how to get books in libraries, letters from authors, why positive and happy queer books are so important, and short stories about tattooists, soldiers, mages, and cyborgs that span the LGBTQ spectrum.

    . .A lonely boy falls in love with his closest and invisible friend. A story about two boys struggling to be seen in each their own ways - and about friendship and love.This is an alternate cover edition for ISBN (ASIN) B0070F32X0.

    In a world struggling to recover from a war that swept humanity to the brink, Evan struggles to learn about and control a power he knows nothing about. He can create and awaken living stone gargoyles. When he receives a message from his contacts that a large gargoyle is about to be destroyed by the Church, Evan rushes to save it.Adel has been asleep for centuries; this century -- with its mechanical devices and human beings set on their own destruction -- holds no interest for him. Yet, through the haze of his hibernation, he hears a voice calling to him, needing him. When he awakens, he is restrained by those he is sworn to protect. Struggling does him no good, and he is about to close his eyes on a world that no longer wants him, when he hears that voice calling again. Calming, soothing, it draws him forth, softening his stone heart like no other ever has. Between the evil that hunts Evan and the Church that wants Adel destroyed, will the two be able to find love, wrapped up in Adel's Purr?

    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...

    Sentenced to community service for being arrested at a rally, John begins working at a relay service for the hearing impaired. Through his new work he meets Steve, a deaf man, who helps him understand that love comes in all shapes and sizes. Steve and John face disapproving families, clashing lifestyles, and discrimination, but they eventually find a place that gives them the peace they need to learn how to love each other, and to discover that sometimes the sweetest voice is the one you can't hear.

    But this time, it’s Reed’s partner who throws him for a loop, using him as bait to get a drunk Midwesterner safely back to his hotel. Reed goes along with his partner’s plan only because he’s too tired to argue, not because the attractive lawbreaker is easy on his weary eyes.After waking up hung-over and ashamed of his behavior (the little that he remembers), Grant Carroll wants to make amends. Partying until he literally drops just to forget his no-good ex is not who he is at all. Treating the gruff officer that escorted him home to an apology lunch, Grant soon realizes Reed has everything his ex doesn’t―compassion, intelligence, and gigantic biceps.Gambling has never been either of their strong suits, but taking a risk on each other may come with the best payoff yet.Part of "Summer Bigger Than Others - A Summer Anthology" from Beaten Track Publishing.

    It is a product of the Goodreads M/M Romance Group Scavenger Hunt challenge and features original stories from some excellent authors. The Scavenger Hunt challenge is an event where readers find books that fit a criterion (like having a green cover or a title starting with “D”) and then find specific items within the pages of these books to add up to as many points as possible (for example, “twin bed” = +2 points). This challenge was a helluva lotta, fun and so we thought we share by creating the ultimate 2013 Goodreads Scavenger Hunt book.This book was lovingly put together as a baby gift for Katie, our tireless leader, who recently had her first baby and is probably just now realizing what “busy mom” really means. Congratulations Katie!We’ve listed the items you need to find in the front of the book. Happy Hunting (Under Covers).Publisher’s Note: This book is intended for adult audiences. It contains sexually explicit scenes between two or more men, violence, and language which may be considered offensive by some readers.

    But when he steps into a pub brawl to help a dangerously outnumbered young man, he is drawn into the seedy underbelly of the city the young man calls home. Gabriel is a cutpurse and a knife for hire, practically an urban legend. His vision of Casmile is touched by a strange combination of faith and madness, driven by fairytale logic and a capacity for love that he often must suppress to survive. He’s always worked alone, but when a dashing dragon who calls himself Colin saves him in a bar fight, he pulls Colin into his world. Gabriel’s city is nothing like the refined, socialite existence that bored Colin senseless. Colin finds adventure and excitement there—and maybe even love. But with his layers of finery stripped away, nothing remains to protect him from poverty or danger—except Gabriel. So he must choose: go back to the civilized young man he once was, or fly free as Gabriel’s dragon.

    He's not exactly the kind of ruler his people might have wanted, but he's helped them out a lot, improving the economy and the sewer system. He's even creating a new fashion statement with his dark and dipped in black ways. So why is he so lonely. Velenth knows just what he needs, so he decides to put out a personal ad. For friendship, maybe more. Can he find what he needs in this hilarious fantastical romp?

    For over a thousand years, he has been trying to free his lover and himself from a cruel curse – to fall in love in every lifetime, but never to be together. What will be their fate this time? ~11,000 words

    Pushed into an impossible corner, Gabriel is on the brink of doing something unspeakable when billionaire business mogul Darrien Stathos steps into the fray and announces a contract that nullifies all other claims—for Gabriel. Only too willing to be the sacrificial martyr to save his family, the cost of surrendering himself to Darrien, however, may be more than Gabriel bargains for.Demon, alien, vampire, or just a plain human monster rumored to be the international crime lord known as Kairos, Gabriel has heard all whispered about this handsome, yet intimidating, savior. Whispers he is starting to fear are true when he witnesses a few disturbing incidents involving Darrien that cannot be rationally explained. Add to that the constant harassment of a couple of FBI agents intent on unearthing damning evidence that will prove that the crime lord, Kairos, is Darrien’s true face, as well as an assassination attempt on Darrien, and Gabriel starts to think that maybe sharing Darrien’s bed is the least daunting thing he will have to face.Who is Darrien really, and why is he so interested in an ordinary guy like Gabriel, a guy just struggling to help his family make ends meet like millions of others? Gabriel isn’t sure he wants to know the answer, but when has the universe ever given him anything other than the finger?This is a m/m reimagining of the urban fantasy/paranormal romance story previously published as The Supreme Moment. It contains several scorching-hot scenes and mature language with a HFN plot resolution.