Book picks similar to
Jewel Bonds by Megan Derr
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02-3_shorts
genre-fantasy
historical-romances
Haywire Witch
Ren Stjerne - 2015
Watching Mitchell when he comes in for ice cream awakens his powers in unexpected ways. A threat from the past draws them together to find unexpected allies and new friends. Angels has to learn to control his powers without scaring Mitchell away. Mitchell finds the courage to let go and embrace the chaos that Angels bringss to his life.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. Dear Author,This is me, causing trouble again. I don’t know what happened. One moment I was having a conversation with my roomie and the next thing I knew, the fountain exploded and I’m drenched in stink water. Ugh. Thanks to the hot summer day nobody seemed to mind that I had no idea how to get the water back under control.The thing is, I’m a witch and I suck at magic.I stopped using the little magic I knew since moving into the city about a year ago. Completely. It’s “fun” enough being gay, I didn’t want to be a witch too. I hate keeping secrets and the witchery thing was definitely supposed to be one. Not using my powers had me thinking I could be normal for a change. Tough luck. Since meeting “him” a few weeks ago, all shit went to hell. Every time he comes into the ice-cream shop I work at my magic goes crazy, doing the most embarrassing things!Nothing was meant to happen today! But then I saw him. My pistachio guy–tall, dark, and gorgeous. Always wearing a suit, always ordering pistachio ice-cream. And always giving me those secret smiles. His being around today definitely triggered my sucky magic to go haywire, and causing the fountain to put on a show. Thanks!My lack of witchery knowledge was starting to get me into deeper trouble than I’d ever expected was possible. But I had to find him and… then what?Photo Description: A young man stands in a pool of water in soaking red shorts and pink fluffy earmuffs. Behind him, water splashes out of a broken fountain. His expression shows concern, possibly guilt.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.
Catnip
Arden Steele - 2021
He’s spent years perfecting the art, never doing anything to draw attention to himself, and he’s grown quite content with being alone. So, he’s not entirely sure how he let himself be talked into attending a masquerade party for the opening of the new nightclub in town. It’ll probably be fine, though. After all, what’s the worst that can happen?With more than three hundred years to amass a considerable fortune, Andre Vasso lives a life of luxury and indulgence. Yet he’s always felt that something was missing, some vital piece that would make his world complete. He just didn’t know what that was until a gorgeous mouse shifter with big green eyes literally falls at his feet.Ryo comes with more baggage than an airport carousel, but Andre doesn’t mind. No matter how long and winding the road, he’s determined to give his mate the life he deserves. But first, he’ll have to convince Ryo that the only thing standing in the way of their happily-ever-after is his own insecurities.A task that might prove easier said than done.
Cash: Angel, Demon, Rock Star
Jae T. Jaggart - 2014
An angel and a demon have been given a challenge by Management. One or the other must win Cash over. To the good, or to the bad. And when supernatural beings battle, any filthy trick and subterfuge is permitted. Winner take all. With seven deadly sins to play with, it’s going to get creative. And Management may not approve. Contains bad behavior, hot m/m action, and a lot of sweaty leather. Approx. 16,500+ words plus bonus material.
A Spirited Match
Jill Wexler - 2018
A fraternity hazing. Two cantankerous ghosts. Jim and Randy have known each other since Kindergarten and have been teased through their teen years for being the textbook definition of “bromance” - never apart, finishing each other’s sentences, only truly happy in the other’s company, completely platonic. Now in their first semester at college together, and pledging the same fraternity, they are sent to stay the night in a supposedly haunted house as part of the hazing process. No big deal, right? The two besties can conquer anything together, right? Except the current resident of the house is grumpy. It’s been too long since Brenden McClain has lived with humans, not since old Linda Richmond had passed on. Since then, he’s only had the joy of toying with the young people who dared to visit the “haunted house” he occupies. In all fairness, he is indeed haunting it but only because he seems to be bound there for no reason other than to be regularly annoyed by Edward, who appears to be stuck on the property as well, though he tends to spend most of his time where the old barn used to be. When Jim and Randy get dropped off on his front porch to stay the night, Brendan nearly swoons over the prospect of having guests to play with. His excitement escalates when he picks up on a very repressed emotion emitting from both young men...and decides to have a different kind of fun with the pair.
How to Keep an Author (Alive)
A.J. Sherwood - 2021
Now, vampires hold day jobs like everyone else, and Justus is no exception. The funny thing about living forever is that you still somehow have laundry and bills to deal with. Enter stage left: JD Cooper, Justus’s new employer. Supposedly, the man is a writing raconteur, known to craft a mean mystery. His skills excel on paper, but suck in reality because he’s one step away from hoarder level. Justus takes the job as his housekeeper, expecting eccentricity. Which he gets. And so much more. Tags: Vampires with day jobs, Justus has it rough, Cooper is a walking disaster, how self-indulgent should I make this, the answer is very, bite kink, book hoarding, this is the least angsty thing I’ve written all year, smother tested, editor approved (This was a short story originally published in the Working Stiffs anthology. With the anthology no longer published, I've chosen to re-release it as a 10k short.)
Captive Fire
Erin M. Leaf - 2015
When he’s forced to buy a slave, he defiantly chooses Drakon instead of a woman. Because he’s determined to overthrow his father’s empire, he can’t afford to show vulnerability, but Drakon is more compelling than he’d anticipated. For an Arethuza warrior, affection is a weakness that can lead to death. Drakon isn’t really a slave—he’s a black dragon, considered cursed by everyone. Despite his people’s distrust, he will do anything to keep them safe, even submit to an Arethuza prince. He never expected to find love, and that complication could ruin his plans to sabotage the emperor’s war campaign. Though Ryuu is his fated mate, their fledgling bond is a secret too dangerous for Drakon to reveal. Will their duty tear them apart? Can honor prevail in a war that might be too violent for even the strongest dragon warrior?
Ashes of Memory
Aiden Bates - 2020
It ended with me barely alive, and it took me a year to recover. There was a spark between Tam and I, the promise of a mating bond, but that was ripped from us along with the rest of the tragedy. But now Tam’s brother is dead, and his nephew missing. I can’t do it again, not when I’ve seen the true depths of dark power. But when Tam comes to me, I know I’m his only hope. He has no right to ask me, but even after all these years he still owns a piece of my heart. I can’t say no. But now that I’ve been burned, I know just how badly this can go. And if I fail, I won’t just lose my mate. This mage has to be defeated … or the whole world may suffer.
Inheriting You
Stormy Glenn - 2017
Finding out that his kindly neighbor has left him a fortune is astounding. Fulfilling the man's last request to be returned to the land of his birth seems easy enough. Little does Ivo know how much that one trip will change his life.Vitki is the Dýka, the dagger that seeks vengeance, the right hand of the king. Given an order to protect Ivo with his life, Vitki knows he has a fight ahead of him. Someone wants to keep Ivo from claiming his rightful place in the Vítkovský Klan and they're willing to kill in order to prevent it.It's up to Vitki to make sure Ivo can claim his inheritance, or die trying.
The Grave Watchers
Missouri Dalton - 2011
Since man first buried his dead, she has watched over them. With her hand she raises those select few, those disturbed and maimed, to new life. These risen souls are duty bound to protect the souls still buried and resting. The souls restless and walking. Sebastien Crowle is such a watchman. But as a villain so profane and perverse enters the scene with a crime the likes of which Sebastien has never seen, can he stop the villain and confront the ghosts of his own past as they begin to rear their heads?
Getting Their Bearings
J.D. Light - 2021
way too young for me. Twenty years is quite the age gap, especially when you take into account that he is a shifter, and therefore done aging, but I can't help but be drawn to the younger man, and he's not about to let me ignore him, showing up at my bakery every day, flirting and asking me out. He can't be serious, right? And what happens when the polar bear shifter actually finds his mate?
Rogue
B.A. Stretke - 2020
He’s a dark and deadly man, known for keeping his own company. He follows no rules except for his own and those of his brother, Alpha Henrik Vaughn. Walking through Eastport late one night, on his way back from a mission for his brother, Derek happens upon a fight in an alley. Usually, Derek wouldn’t concern himself with the business of others, but something about this was different. He felt compelled to save this little human. Fending off the Jackals with ease, only when he got a good look at the human was all made clear, this man was his mate. A mate wasn’t something Derek ever wanted to trouble himself with. He was too comfortable in his ways to consider the needs of another, but face to face with the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid eyes on all that went away. Derek knew this was his future. Now all is not right in Eastport and Bay Harbor, there is insurrection and criminal elements at play that put both the Pack and Derek’s newly found mate in serious jeopardy. Can Derek take it all on and protect not only his mate but his brother and his home as well? Leo Russo is a bartender at the Indigo Hotel in Eastport, on a beautiful bay on Lake Michigan. This resort city of over 60,000 was meant to be his refuge, his hideaway, but it seems the problems he left behind in Chicago have found him. Walking down a dark alley after two in the morning, Leo is jumped by two-man and he wonders if this is it. All seemed lost until a dark stranger stepped into the alley and saved him. That dark man is Derek Vaughn, the brother of his employer over at the Indigo Hotel. Leo wonders what a man like Derek would want with him, but he just can’t seem to deny the man. With trouble brewing, Leo wonders if he can hold on to Derek and the possibility of tomorrow. Dark forces are surrounding them and it’s anyone’s guess who is really behind it all. In Eastport and Bay Harbor, nothing is as it seems.
Jack Addison vs. Man-Ravishing Spider
K.A. Merikan - 2018
Jack Addison.”
Jack Addison. Son of a famous monster hunter. Grandson of a celebrated inventor. He has a lot to live up to, but his ego is as big as the expectations of his family. At just nineteen, he’s fresh out of a prestigious academy, set to make a name for himself in a world where people need protection from strange and dangerous creatures.During the annual hunt for the Loch Ness monster, Jack finds a rival in Roux Chat-Bonnes, a cat-like being who recently joined the same profession and is set to steal the bounty—and fame—from under Jack’s nose.Jack won’t let that happen. He sets out on the hunt alone, but the creature that he finds in the cave near Loch Ness doesn’t have tentacles. Instead, it’s got hairy legs, eight black eyes and a taste for human flesh.POSSIBLE SPOILERS:Themes: living up to expectations, pride, dreams, self-discovery, tolerance, fame, monster hunting, inter-species relationsGenre: M/M romantic erotica, horror-comedyErotic content: Scorching hot, explicit scenesLength: ~7,500 words (Episode 1 in the serial)WARNING: This story contains morally ambiguous characters and scenes of sex that might be considered taboo.
Feral Dawn
Lee Colgin - 2020
When Hugo stumbles upon Ivan, he’s faced with an impossible choice: leave the injured vampire to perish in the sun’s rays, or take him to the home he’s lived in alone for the last decade. Ivan, bleeding and helpless, must trust this mysterious werewolf to protect him and nurse him back to health. He learns Hugo is on his own, cast out from his pack and cut off from his family. Hugo saves his life, and Ivan will do anything to return the favor—even take on the rogue alpha terrorizing Hugo’s childhood pack. Can an outcast werewolf and a disgraced vampire find love, or will an old enemy tear them apart? Feral Dawn is a novella-length MM paranormal/fantasy romance featuring a vampire who will do anything to protect those he loves, a shy werewolf willing to take a risk, hurt/comfort, and a touch of violence for readers who love a good fight scene.
Mating Balance
Gina A. Rogers - 2014
He has messy, finger-length, brown hair. His sleek, well-defined muscular body, looks quick and flexible. Tan skin, pouty lips, high cheekbones, and a straight nose. Broad bulky shoulders and a defined V leading down to close cropped crotch and thick thighs.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love’s Landscapes" 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.