Pip Valentine craves excitement, drama, anything that'll get him away from his family, especially because the ransom is going to hit them where it hurts - right in the bank account. The gang leader who grabs him round the waist as a human shield between himself and the police, holding a gun to his head and hissing threats and promises in his ear and telling him to hold still and behave, is all part of the crazy new Hollywood gangster-film thrill.Lindsay Brown's secret life as a criminal is worlds away from his sensible day job and quiet seaside home. Things never usually go wrong, he's too careful about his plans. This kid wasn't part of any plan, but now he's here making things difficult and Lindsay can't make himself get rid of him - especially not when he realises what kind of reaction the kid has to his gun, his temper, and his issues with control. When love starts to creep up on him, it's unexpected and unwelcome and he fights it as much as he can stand, but it doesn't work. He's hooked. The alternative is domesticity, then - sharing his house with a kid fifteen years his junior who thinks it's okay to leave nailpaint bottles scattered around the bedroom and eat Haribo for a main meal. This is a thousand times harder than robbing banks.Stockholm Syndrome is an unconventional love story where opposites attract like bullets, Russian Roulette is foreplay, and a hand closed tight round your wrist is as good as an "I love you". Sometimes you find your missing jigsaw piece in the weirdest circumstances. And sometimes you've got to really force it into place through sheer stubborn will...

    He outlived all of his friends after bombs decimated the hardscrabble neighborhood he grew up in, and he made it through the orphanages and crime-ridden slums that followed. With few prospects for the future, Gordon carved out a niche for himself in the expanding drug trade of Lexington, PA. It’s not pretty, but it's his, and it beats the skin trade he was involved with before. But a classic case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time results in a brush with death, going by the name of Adam. Afterward, the life that once seemed good enough isn't quite the same. Adam Blake is an assassin on the brink of being terminated by the very organization that controls him. He completed his mission, but not without being seen. With his secrets in danger of being exposed by Gordon, Adam knows he should kill the smart-mouthed redhead, but finds himself intrigued by the troublesome civilian instead. When Gordon’s knack for finding trouble combines with the dangerous consequences of Adam’s indecision, their worlds intertwine in an explosive way.Trigger warnings: Graphic sex, violence, and drug use.word count: 85,000

    The problem is, his new brother’s very edible friend isn’t fooled by his act. If his secrets are revealed, they won’t want him and he has nowhere else to go.Thanks to a suicide bomber, ex-military police sergeant Jase Rosewood is back in the English countryside. His plans for quiet recuperation are ruined by the effervescent, go-go dancing twink who has everyone wrapped around his little finger. Luckily for the gullible Matt, Jase can smell a liar a mile away, and Chris Bacon, if that’s even his name, stinks to high heaven. Assigned ‘Chris-sitting’ duty while Matt's on honeymoon, Jase has a week to discover what is hidden beneath the bright camouflage. It's a job, just like any other, so why does it feel so different? Unfortunately, Jase isn’t the only one drawn to the boy who can’t stay still, but instead of wanting to reveal his true colours; they want to dull them forever.Contains issues of physical abuse, but not between the central couple.

    Budding Navajo cartoonist Lorenzo Maryboy is a hard-working former Marine: staunch, brave, and honorable. Chance brings them together on the road to Marathon, Texas, and passion flares.Just as always, Jesse puts his art ahead of everything. He betrays their growing trust, and that Lorenzo can’t forgive. But Jesse’s found something he loves more than his art, and what he does to win Lorenzo’s forgiveness is far more dangerous than either man understands.

    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

    All that changes, however, when Steve innocently wanders into a city park and falls victim to a vicious gang of queer-bashers who beat him within an inch of his life. After that there are no secrets any more - and it's a very long road back, for both of them, from there...

     Once the golden boy of the English literary scene, now a clinically depressed writer of pulp crime fiction, Ash Winters has given up on love, hope, happiness, and — most of all — himself. He lives his life between the cycles of his illness, haunted by the ghosts of other people’s expectations. Then a chance encounter at a stag party throws him into the arms of Essex boy Darian Taylor, an aspiring model who lives in a world of hair gel, fake tans, and fashion shows. By his own admission, Darian isn’t the crispest lettuce in the fridge, but he cooks a mean cottage pie and makes Ash laugh, reminding him of what it’s like to step beyond the boundaries of anxiety. But Ash has been living in his own shadow for so long that he can’t see past the glitter to the light. Can a man who doesn’t trust himself ever trust in happiness? And how can a man who doesn’t believe in happiness ever fight for his own?

    At thirty-eight, he quits a successful advertising career to buy an old brownstone in a trendy Boston neighborhood and to make his dream a reality. When one of his cosigners drops out, fate intervenes, ushering in Casper James, who hopes to open his own bakery. With Casper willing to take the risk, their ambitions meld into a wedding dress and wedding cake boutique.Extensive renovations to the brownstone, an affair with his ex-husband, family drama with his mothers, and the anxiety of significant life changes push Kevin to the brink of a nervous breakdown. In the midst of stress and uncertainty, Casper becomes more than a business partner, a mutual attraction that adds another layer of intensity and risk.With their dreams on the verge of reality, Kevin and Casper must find the courage to face the stress of managing their attraction, the gamble of a new business venture, and the resurgence of Kevin’s personal demons.

    In the beautifully monstrous realms of his imagination, he is safe from the pain of his losses: his family, his friends, his hope.Until war breaks out, and he is forced to flee the only home he's known since he was thirteen.Captured by an enemy soldier, young Luka is marched across brutal terrain, toward a fate known only by the bearded menace holding him prisoner. Quick with a knife, tireless and strong, Tarik guards the purpose of his mission as he takes Luka deeper and deeper into enemy territory.When the soldier discovers the painful secret he has been hiding since childhood, Luka fears he is about to endure a new kind of cruelty, worse than being abandoned, ostracized or beaten. Or is it possible the soldier holding Luka prisoner is the one person who isn't afraid of the truth behind Luka's silence and lies?

    But at thirty-six, he wonders how committed Mosko will be to an aging lover.He finds out when a rival gang kidnaps him in a turf war everyone's sure to lose. Mosko unleashes deadly force, leaving no one alive except for a young man whose dark eyes tug at Dylan's heart and the conscience he thought he'd excised long ago.Though he tried to stop the kidnapping, William Memo Escobar knows Mosko will use what's left of him to send a powerful message to his rivals. When Mosko's pampered pretty boy risks everything to help him escape, he can't believe his luck.William figures he's better suited to life off the grid, but as the days go by he begins to realize Dylan's beauty is more than skin deep. And as Dylan coaxes more and more beguiling smiles from William, he yearns for things like family ties he'd thought were best forgotten.Yet behind their newfound happiness lurks the certain knowledge that no matter how careful they are, Mosko will come for what's his.Warning: This book contains a mob boss, a kept man, and a reluctant kidnapper who will never have to hear the words, Size doesn't matter.

    Volunteering for the Tampa AIDS Alliance is just one part of that new beginning, and that’s how Dan meets his new buddy, Adam. Adam Schmidt is not at all what Dan expected. The guy is an original—witty, wry, and sarcastic with a fondness for a smart black dress, Barbra Streisand, and a good mai tai. Adam doesn’t let his imminent death get him down, even through a downward spiral that sees him thrown in jail. Each step of Adam’s journey teaches Dan new lessons about strength and resilience, but it’s Adam’s lover, Sullivan, to whom Dan feels an almost irresistible pull. Dan knows the attraction isn’t right, even after he dumps his cheating, drug-abusing boyfriend. But then Adam passes away, and it leaves Sullivan and Dan both alone to see if they can turn their love for Adam into something whole and real for each other.

    When he attempted to escape his abusive, zealot father, he found himself on the streets, making a living the only way he knew how, the victim of more violent men—one of whom orchestrates a series of vicious attacks that leave Jeb deaf. Now that he’s aged beyond his latest client’s interest, Jeb knows he needs to escape his risky lifestyle before it’s too late. Seeing one last chance for himself, he earns a GED and enrolls in college. Freddy Williams enjoys a life that couldn’t be more different from what Jeb has survived. He loves sports, being a personal trainer, and hanging out with friends. The son of deaf parents, Freddy is an outspoken advocate of the Deaf community and works as an interpreter at his college. When he meets Jeb at the bookstore, he’s struck by how attractive he is, and as they get to know each other, he finds Jeb’s good heart just as appealing. By the time he learns of Jeb’s past, it’s only a few steps behind them, and Freddy must make a choice between school and his familiar routine and protecting the man he’s falling in love with.Content warning: Child prostitution, pedophilia, on-page rape, physical abuse and mental trauma.

    But when Riley is killed in combat, everything in Trevor’s life unravels into a mess he doesn’t know how to mourn.Then Jesse Byrne, Riley’s friend and platoon mate, arrives on Trevor’s doorstep with a box of Riley’s things. Jesse’s all-too-familiar grief provides an unlikely source of comfort for Trevor: knowing he’s not alone is exactly what he needs.Trevor never imagined he’d find someone who fills his heart with hope again. As the pair celebrate Riley’s memory, their unique bond deepens into something irreplaceable—and something neither man can live without.But diving into a relationship can’t be so simple. Being together means Trevor risking the last link he has to his son…leaving Jesse to wonder if he’ll ever be enough, or if Trevor will always be haunted by the past.

    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.

    His grades sucked. Making friends? Out of the question thanks to his nervous breakdowns and unpredictable moods. Still, Vince thought when Maggie Atkins took him in, he might’ve finally found a place to get his life—and his issues—in order.But then Maggie keels over from a heart attack. Vince is homeless, alone, and the inheritance money isn't going to last long. A year ago, Vince watched a girl leap to her death off a bridge, and now he's starting to think she had the right idea.Vince stumbles across a website forum geared toward people considering suicide. There, he meets others with the same debate regarding the pros and cons of death: Casper, battling cancer, would rather off herself than slowly waste away. And there’s quiet, withdrawn Adam, who suspects if he died, his mom wouldn't even notice.As they gravitate toward each other, Vince searches for a reason to live while coping without Maggie's guidance, coming to terms with Casper's imminent death, and falling in love with a boy who doesn't plan on sticking around.