He and his best friend, Jasim, are thieves for hire—until one night they’re caught and their precious freedom is revoked. Given the choice between the dungeons or palace pleasure slavery, they become slaves, but Teman vows to escape someday.Bathasar doesn’t want the throne. He supports his brother instead, which suits their sadistic father, Mukesh. When Teman, the handsome slave Bathasar has secretly been watching, saves his life, Bathasar requests a slave for the first time. Before long, Bathasar and Teman fall in love. But all is not well. One day Mukesh brutalizes Teman before the court, angering the empress of a neighboring nation. To appease her, he then offers her Jasim as a gift, and Teman decides to stay with Bathasar for now—despite the abuse he may suffer.The peace doesn’t last. Mukesh plans to invade Jasim’s new country, and Bathasar must find a way to stop the destruction. But if he succeeds, he’ll ascend to the throne and have the power to grant Teman his liberty. Then Teman will surely leave him. What other choice could a gypsy make?

    Reed has crafted a new fairy tale for our times that manages to be ethereal, romantic and ripped-from-the-headlines realistic.Beau is a down-on-his-luck street artist living on the streets of Seattle, drawing portraits of tourists to make enough money to live hand-to-mouth. He has a knack for capturing his subjects’ “very souls” on paper. One rainy night, he is accosted by a group of fag-bashing thugs, intent on robbing him of his art supplies and humiliating Beau for who he is. Beau is beaten into unconsciousness......And awakens in a beautiful bedroom, his head bandaged and with no memory of how he got there. Outside his window pine trees and mountain vistas beckon.Beau’s tale grows even more mysterious when a large, muscular man begins bringing the injured Beau his food. The man says nothing—and wears a wolf mask. When he finally does speak, it’s only to tell Beau to call him “Beast.”What secrets does the wolf mask hide? What do these two outsiders have in common? And will their odd circumstances bring them to the brink of love—or tear them apart? The answers lie in Rick R. Reed’s haunting love story that reveals that beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

    Having squandered his wealth, the feckless Guido returns home to claim the hand of the celestial Juliet, but finds himself censured by her father. Petulant at his chastisement, his Byronic temperament gets the better of him, and he is punished with banishment. Plotting his revenge, he witnesses a mighty tempest, and from the raging sea emerges a strange figure. Although he is initially repelled by the dwarfish form before him, the stranger soon makes him an offer he can't refuse, but by surrendering his identity and selling his soul to this mysterious creature, Guido makes yet another fatal error. A macabre, sinister and supernatural tale, Mary Shelley's Transformation is a masterpiece of Gothic writing. It is accompanied by The Mortal Immortal and The Evil Eye, two further stories of the supernatural, both of which display the perfection of Shelley's literary craft.

    He believes his destiny is to be the greatest composer of the rapidly approaching twentieth century. Only Laurence Northcliff, a young history master at The Venerable Bede School for Young Gentlemen, believes in Dylan's talent and encourages his dream, not realizing Dylan is in love with him. But Dylan's passion and belief in his future come at a high price. They will alienate him from his family and lead him on a rocky path fraught with disappointment, rejection, and devastating loss that kills his dream. A forbidden love could bring the dream back to life and rescue Dylan from despair and bitterness, but does he have the courage to reach out and take it? Will he deny the music that rules his soul?

    I couldn't put this book down. The first chapter had my heart thumping with excitement, but that epilogue!" - Between Books"364 Days a Year is a fascinating tale were fantasy meets reality... It's a beautiful love story, but not only of young love. It's also about family love and self love." - BellaorevBooks "What a breath of fresh air! 364 Days A Year was one of the most riveting, thought-provoking and unique stories I've read this year." - Yessi Smith, YA Author of Shallow"This book is undeniably a 5 star read and one of the best books this year. I expected to like it but I ended up absolutely LOVING it." - Goodreads Reader"There is so much to love about 364 Days... Riad doesn't disappoint, and just when you start to dry your eyes, she throws you one more reason to grab that tissue box." - One More Paige"The unique storyline and creativity that went into it, is unlike any other YA read I've come across! It was so well written and emotionally captivating." - Goodreads Reader

    When solicitor's clerk George Johnson moves into new digs, he's instantly attracted to friendly fellow lodger Matthew Connaught, who lost an arm in the Great War. As the two become inseparable, George begins to wonder whether it's just friendship that Matthew feels for him or something more. And if it's something more... can George risk a revelation of his shameful past?

    These two men who have spent a life in love, from the very first date arranged by Henry’s sister, through the rocky times they worked to make ends meet, and into their twilight years.NOTE: This story appears in the following anthologies — Best Gay Romance 2008 (Cleis Press) and Best Gay Stories 2009 (Lethe Press).

     Thomas Treadwell takes to the high seas as a sailor on a merchant ship as he searches for freedom, a difficult thing to find for a man such as himself in the 18th century. While he must hide his most essential self in the daylight, his forbidden desires are allowed brief tastes of secret passion under the cover of night and with faceless partners. It’s not the freedom he’d hoped to one day find, but it was better than most realities for a catamite. Caught in the taboo act aboard the VIrtue, a pious ship captained by the sanctimonious Captain Temperance Stone, Thomas faces death for his crime of finding pleasure with a fellow sailor. But his fate changes in an instant when the Virtue is caught and boarded by the notorious Manhunter, a pirate ship purportedly manned by men just like him, men who desire men. The ship of criminal misfits offers him safe harbor as a guest, and what was always forbidden is accepted and celebrated. Celebrated heartily and with many of his newfound sailing companions. But when he stumbles upon their mysterious secret, passions and suspicions are aroused. Thomas must decide whether to join their ranks for good, making him a criminal in his own eyes. Lust in the Caribbean delivers sexy scenes and high adventure, transporting readers back to a far away place and time. Dive deep and experience the journey right alongside Thomas, as he discovers the meaning of acceptance, loyalty and the rule of love over law.

    That’s why – whenever the social occasion demands – he hires his extroverted actor twin Nathan to put on a white coat, flatten down his hair and pretend to be him for the evening. Nathan’s latest mission? To chat up an adorable Bloomsbury bookseller named Rob, because Simon is far too shy to make the first move. Despite being busy with the role of a lifetime, Nathan reluctantly agrees to play Cyrano de Bergerac. It’s not like the situation is going to get messy, since Nathan’s straight. Sort of. As the romantic complications and cases of mistaken identity pile up, Nathan is forced to confront not only the fact that he’s further up the Kinsey Scale than he previously thought, but also that he might just be falling in love with his brother’s boyfriend.

    After her grandmother’s death, Eva finds a series of diaries detailing the life of a girl caught up in the magic of the Roaring Twenties. She cannot reconcile the young girl in these diaries with the miserable old woman she loved so fiercely. What happened to change her grandmother so drastically? Eva starts to investigate the puzzle her grandmother left behind. With the help of a local historian and his enigmatic assistant Olivia, they find a forgotten labyrinth under the city streets. But they are not the only ones down there. Someone else is searching for the light of the world.

    Now it is up to his daughter, Tabitha, to deliver the Christmas presents. Tabitha has never been interested in the family business and would much rather run her own consulting business based out of Chicago. She is even less interested in marrying some nice young boy to take over as Santa, but there are some nice (and perhaps a few naughty) women she finds more intriguing. It all comes to a head when Allison catches Tabitha in her role as Santa. This is a novella of 25,000 words.

    Down inside the Artemisia it’s this mortal coil all over. Earthly delights on every floor."The hotel Artemisia sits on a fantastical 72nd Street, in a decade that never was. It is home to a cast of characters, creatures, and creations unlike any other, including especially Zelda Fair, who is perfect at being Zelda, but who longs for something more. The world of this extraordinary novella—a bootlegger's brew of fairy tales, Jazz Age opulence, and organized crime—is ruled over by the diminutive, eternal, sinister Al. Zelda holds her own against the boss, or so it seems. But when she faces off against him and his besotted employee Frankie in a deadly game that just might change everything, she must bet it all and hope not to lose…Multiple-award-winning, New York Times’ bestselling author Catherynne M. Valente once again reinvents a classic in Speak Easy, which interprets “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” if Zelda Fitzgerald waltzed in and stole the show. This Prohibition-Era tale will make heads spin and hearts pound. It’s a story as old as time, as effervescent as champagne, and as dark as the devil’s basement on a starless night in the city.

    The majority of the known civilisations have formed a multi-cultural mega organization called the United Stars of Galaxies. This Union is protected by the brave men and women of the United Stars Space fleet against external threats.Eric Olafson, born and raised under harsh conditions of the traditional and inward looking society of Nilfeheim, left his planet to fulfil his dreams of becoming a Starship captain.When Eric gets kidnaped by an unknown organization and brought to Sin4, he slowly starts to discover his central role in an ancient conflict of cosmic proportions.

    This anthology showcases the most exceptional SF stories written by women in recent decades, from classic stars Ursula K. Le Guin and Angélica Gorodischer; science fiction greats Karen Joy Fowler and Nancy Kress; new award-winning talents Elizabeth Bear, Nnedi Okorafor and Aliette de Bodard; and many more.Contents:Girl hours / Sofia Samatar --Excerpt from a letter by a social-realist Aswang / Kristin Mandigma --Somadeva: a sky river sutra / Vandana Singh --The queen of Erewon / Lucy Sussex --Tomorrow is Saint Valentine's Day / Tori Truslow --Spider the artist / Nnedi Okorafor --The science of herself / Karen Joy Fowler --The other graces / Alice Sola Kim --Boojum / Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette --The eleven holy numbers of the mechanical soul / Natalia Theodoridou --Mountain ways / Ursula K. Le Guin --Tan-Tan and Dry Bone / Nalo Hopkinson --The four generations of Chang E / Zen Cho --Stay thy flight / Élisabeth Vonarburg --Astrophilia / Carrie Vaughan --Invisible planets / Hao Jingfang --On the Leitmotif of the Trickster Constellation in Northern Hemispheric star charts, post apocalypse / Nicole Kornher-Stace --Valentines / Shira Lipkin --Dancing in the shadow of the once / Rochita Loenen-Ruiz --Ej-Es / Nancy Kress --The cartographer wasps and the anarchist bees / E. Lily Yu --The death of Sugar Daddy / Toiya Kristen Finley --Enyo-Enyo / Kameron Hurley --Semiramis / Genevieve Valentine --Immersion / Aliette de Bogard --Down the wall / Greer Gilman --Sing / Karin Tidbeck --Good boy / Nisi Shwal --The second card of the Major Arcana / Thoraiya Dyer --A short encyclopedia of lunar seas / Ekaterina Sedia --Vector / Benjanun Sriduangkaew --Concerning the unchecked growth of cities / Angélica Gorodischer --The radiant car thy sparrows drew / Catherynne M. Valente.

    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.