He wasn't expecting his best friend, Claire Olivia, to kidnap him. And he definitely wasn't expecting what she has planned to cheer him up...Ben Carver was honestly planning to spend winter break at home in New Hampshire not thinking about Rafe. But he wasn't expecting to run into his ex-girlfriend, who's still interested in him. And he wasn't expecting to find himself still attracted to her...Openly, Honestly tells two funny, sad, beautiful stories that were made for anyone who has longed for one person to see you, to understand you, and to love you exactly as you are.

    But Jordan was lucky. He met Owen Nelson in the second grade, and they’ve been BFFs ever since. Owen is a big, beautiful blond and their school’s champion wrestler. No one messes with Owen, or with anyone close to him, and he bucks popular opinion by keeping Jordan as his wingman even after Jordan comes out at school.Their friendship survives, but Jordan’s worst enemy may be himself: he can’t seem to help the fact that he is head-over-heels in love with a hopeless case—his straight friend, Owen. Owen won’t let anything take Jordan’s friendship away, but he never counted on Jordan running off to find a life of his own. Owen will have to face the nature of their relationship if he’s to win Jordan back.

    He is the bullying victim of Tim ‘Dumb’ Eschner, soccer hunk and the school’s official dimwit.When the vice principal witnesses one of Tim’s assaults, Marcel’s problems seem to be solved at last. But his good nature and his fast tongue get him into more trouble than he would prefer.Forced to work together, they both discover that there is more to the other one than meets the eye.A feel-good story about change, forgiveness, and love.This romance novel contains graphic language and descriptions of sexual encounters (m/m).Word count (story only): approx. 74.200

    Climbing into the Winnebago his father left him, they set out across America in search of the sites his father had captured through the lens of his Nikon.As an aspiring photographer, Justin can think of no better way to honor his father’s memory than to scatter his ashes at the sites he held sacred. And there’s no one Justin would rather share the experience with more than Landry.But Justin knows he can’t escape forever. Eventually he’ll have to return home and join his mother’s Senate campaign. Nor can he escape the truth of who he is, and the fact that he’s in love with his out-and-proud travel companion.Admitting what he wants could hurt his mother’s conservative political career. But with every click of his shutter and every sprinkle of ash, Justin can’t resist Landry’s pull. And when the truth comes into focus, neither is prepared for the secrets the other is hiding.

    Or is it?I’m tired. Tired of being bullied, ignored, and tired of my dysfunctional parents. I clean out my locker, so no one else has to do it for me once I’m gone. But when someone knocks my books out of my hands, it sets off a motion of events that makes me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt before.Andreas is the best friend of one of my bullies, but he’s nothing like any of them. He’s kind and compassionate and charming—and he doesn't seem to mind my scars. When he reveals he’s bisexual and interested in me, it all seems too good to be true.But who am I to look a gift-horse in the mouth? It’s not like I can’t postpone my plans, after all, and go along with him for as long as he’ll have me.

    Then a tornado named Emmet Washington enters his life. The double major in math and computer science is handsome, forward, wicked smart, interested in dating Jeremey—and he’s autistic.But Jeremey doesn’t judge him for that. He’s too busy judging himself, as are his parents, who don’t believe in things like clinical depression. When his untreated illness reaches a critical breaking point, Emmet is the white knight who rescues him and brings him along as a roommate to The Roosevelt, a quirky new assisted living facility nearby.As Jeremey finds his feet at The Roosevelt, Emmet slowly begins to believe he can be loved for the man he is behind the autism. But before he can trust enough to fall head over heels, he must trust his own conviction that friendship is a healing force, and love can overcome any obstacle.Warning: Contains characters obsessed with trains and counting, positive representations of autism and mental illness, a very dark moment, and Elwood Blues.

    Maxwell Gold appeared to be a successful straight man with a wife and loads of friends, but Max had been living a secret life. Everyone knows about it, his wife, and his boys, the only one who doesn’t realize that he’s not straight, is Maxwell Gold. The night he walks into a French restaurant and is love-sick over a young man, is the same night he’s confronted with the truth about himself, and his sham marriage to his beautiful wife. Can the love of his life Jami Caulfield who knows who he is, convince Max that love is never having to say you’re sorry when you accept yourself, and who you choose to love? Can Maxwell Gold handle all the problems that have been tossed at him when he announces to his father that he’s gay and loves a man?

    He willingly, even eagerly, risks his life to save a stranger as a murderous, deranged shooter moves methodically through the darkened theater on the Batcheldor College campus, randomly killing innocent men, women, and children.The stranger he saves is college freshman Jason Tripp. Jase loses everything in the shooting: his girlfriend, who dies on the floor beside him, and his grip on emotional security. He struggles to regain a sense of safety in the world, finally leaving college to seek refuge in his hometown.An inexplicable bond forms between the two men in the chaos and horror of the theater, and Liam fights to bring Jase back to the world he ran away from. When Jase returns to school, they’re drawn together as soulmates, and soon Liam and Jase fall into a turbulent romantic relationship. However, the rocky path to love cannot be smoothed until Jase rescues his hero in return by delving into his shady past and solving the mystery of Liam’s compulsion to be everybody’s savior.

    He has a crappy job at Food World, a "boyfriend" who won't publicly acknowledge his existence (maybe because Pablo also has a girlfriend), and parents on the verge of a divorce. College is Dade's shining beacon of possibility, a horizon to keep him from floating away. Then he meets the mysterious Alex Kincaid. Falling in real love finally lets Dade come out of the closet - and, ironically, ignites a ruthless passion in Pablo. But just when true happiness has set in, tragedy shatters the dreamy curtain of summer, and Dade will use every ounce of strength he's gained to break from his past and start fresh with the future.

    In the small town of Moline, Virginia, folks struggle to survive, relying on hybrid seed sent by the faraway Departmet of Reintroduction and Agriculture and their own faith in God and hard work. But when a mated pair of dragons starts hunting the countryside, stealing sheep, and attacking children, the townsfolk quickly learn that they don't have the weapons or the skills to fight off such predators.David Anderson is a farmer's son who has explored the world through books. When he meets the new healer in town, Callan Landers, he doesn't quite know what to make of the strange warmth stealing over him. It's not until he surprises Callan with another man-and both men are promptly arrested for sodomy-that David finally realizes the truth about his own feelings.When David and Callan stumble over a secret in a nearby abandoned town, their personal problems fade before government politics and corruption that threaten lives. It seems the dragons aren't the worst dangers facing Moline.

    Now, I will ruin his son.” Shane. Ex-con. No-good bastard. Scum.Rosen. Trust fund boy. Virgin. Sucker.Shane is straight out of prison, and has one goal only—to wreck everything dear to the man who put him behind bars. And number one on that list is Rosen, Ed Beck’s son. Shane’s plan is to incriminate the boy, but when the dreamy blue eyes meet his, Shane can think of a hundred other ways to ruin Rosen right under his father’s nose.If Rosen’s dad is to pay for his art degree, Ros has to stay on the straight and narrow. Join a fraternity, avoid scandal, and keep his sexuality under wraps. Seems easy enough until he meets Shane, a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks. All sanity goes out the window, and the slippery slope leads Rosen down a path of violence, blackmail, and passion too sizzling to be denied. Shane thinks he’s in control, that Rosen is just a means to an end, a tool to be manipulated. But as a love he’d never even dreamed of becomes real, he’s starting to realize he doesn’t have to be the ‘scum’ society’s been telling him he is.Shane now stands at a crossroads, between Rosen and revenge.POSSIBLE SPOILERS:Themes: blackmail, revenge, manipulation, ex-con, secrets, rich/poor, class differences, age gapGenre: Scorching hot M/M dark romanceLength: ~73,000 words (Standalone)WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, attempted SA, offensive language and morally ambiguous characters.

    Louie wants to be a lawyer and is an outstanding student. Willa lives in a pub and just wants to get through the year so she can graduate and become a chef. But they are completely attracted to one another when they first meet at a fast-food restaurant. Soon they fall in love fast and furiously, and everything the girls are sure of - their plans, their faith, their families, their identities - is called into question...

    Written for the M/M Romance Group's "Hot Summer Days" anthology.Jonah Beckett has been in love with his older brother's best friend, Laurie, since he was thirteen-years-old. When his boyfriend, Dirk, breaks up with him for refusing to put out, Jonah uses his heartbreak over the situation as an excuse to ask Laurie to teach him all about sex before he starts college in the fall. Problem is, he made Dirk up, and Jonah has no idea what will happen when Laurie finally finds out the truth.~*~Cover design by L.C. Chase.Download the story, read it here or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 1 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition.

    However, the last thing he expected to find in the library was a Good Samaritan. He might have been suspicious of Guy’s motives at first, but it soon becomes apparent that his savior is a good man who has been lucky in life and is looking to pay it forward. Guy being gay is not a problem. Jamie’s not interested… or so he thinks.Guy is happy to help Jamie, and the two men get along fine. But when Jamie’s curiosity leads him from one thing to another, Guy finds himself looking at the young man with new eyes. What started out as a hand up is now something completely different….

    To make ends meet, Randall does erotic photography and massage—a secret he keeps from his family so he can remain a part of his young niece’s life. But the price of that relationship is high, and Randall is once more slipping under his family’s thumb.Noah Carroll is the spokesperson for the Seattle Humane Society, and the city holds a special place in his heart. When fate intervenes during a pet adoption, Noah finds himself face-to-face with his first love—Randall.While Noah and Randall are not the teenagers they once were, the flame of a first kiss long ago draws them together. Their romance is beginning to grow, but someone is out to destroy Randall and expose all he keeps hidden.When secrets and rumors thrust Randall into the public eye, his relationship with Noah isn’t the only thing that comes under threat.