He is the most awesome dog ever, and Stiles and his new dog totally have a bond. A deep, unbreakable bond because this dog is his spirit animal, obviously. Now he just has to convince the dog of that.Words: 31661 complete

    Keeping his lies separated is all that's keeping him alive, and it's a job that grows harder by the day—especially with the unexpected complications of the alpha he's investigating.The PI and the Rockstar by K-lee Klein— Mason is a detective. He’s not flashy or hip and he doesn’t have an office conducive to entertaining wealthy clients. But when made-of-money Durango and his gum-snapping daughter hire him to do surveillance on a popular rockstar named Jade Jonathan Lee, Mason’s business world collides with his personal life, and the result is a mystery that must be solved.Glamour by Holly Rinna-White—When his little brother is kidnapped, Jason hires Eric, PI and long-time crush, to find him, terrified of what will happen if people learn his brother is unregistered psychic. But when Jason is kidnapped as well, he learns he and his brother are not the only ones keeping secrets.The Virginia Gentleman by Alison Bailey—When the Virginia Gentleman rides into town, it's a sure bet that trouble ain't far behind. He's quick on the draw, feared by all, and one sad little group of train robbers is about to find out why it's never wise to bet on trouble.The Royal Inquisitor by Megan Derr—Esmour is one the best Inquisitor's in the kingdom, but the penance bracelets on his wrist serve as constant reminder that once he was not a master of deception, but a victim. To solve his latest case, he must work alongside the liar who changed his life, and the love he learned too late was never real.Regarding the Detective's Companion by E.E. Ottoman—Jamie is desperate: he has no money, rent is coming due, and if he does do something soon he'll be forced back into a life of charity and pity. So when he is brought a case, Jamie takes it—even if it will mean lying to his client, manipulating the suspect and propelling himself into the middle of a plot involving murder and political intrigue.The Demon Bride by Isabella Carter—One dead body left at the door is more than enough, but after three are left on the stoop of his father's agency and no one else is willing to investigate, Quinton decides he'll just have to solve the mystery himself.Too Dangerous by Sasha L. Miller—Shi is good at what he does, no matter what his stupid ex thought. Danger comes with the territory, especially when that territory includes a special license to do select work for the government. But when the government needs him to fix something that defeated even their most elite, Shi learns that some situations are too much even for him.

    In squirrel form, he sits on Vince’s bird feeders, munching on seeds and enjoying the eye candy. Until the day Vince notices him raiding the feeder…Note: This title was originally published in Storm Moon Press's Forgotten Menagerie. Small changes in wording and sentence structure have been made, but this text does not differ in any significant manner from the original.

    He's torn between his lover, Nikolas, and his Master vampire, Lucien. Nikolas and Lucien can't seem to agree on anything and Sabaan's stuck right in the middle, trying to keep the peace. When Nikolas hits a jealous streak, Sabaan realizes he needs to put a little more focus on his own relationship and that it just might be impossible to make everyone happy.

    P. Barnaby – END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT (First Love )*Sarah Black – SUCKER-PUNCH (Athlete/Hurt-Comfort )Scarlet Blackwell – BREAKING WAVES (Surfing/Angst )Penny Brandon – FINDING JACK (Cowboys/Mild BDSM )Lee Brazil – BE A BAD BOY (First-Time/Family Drama )Cardeno C. – WOMAN WITH A DILDO (Friends to Lovers )L.C. Chase – OPEN TACKLE (Friends to Lovers )*Kim Dare – MASOCHISM 101 (BDSM/Friends to Lovers )S.J. Frost – A LITTLE BIT COUNTRY (Musicians/Rivals to Lovers )Jeanette Grey – HEART AND SOUL (Friends to Lovers )Jambrea Jo Jones – WILD BLUE YONDER (Military )*Pender Mackie by DOG DAYS OF SUMMER (Blue Collar/First Date )JL Merrow – BEAR NAKED (First-time/Bears )M.J. O'Shea – BRIDGES (First Love )*Neil S. Plakcy – PHOTO BOOTH (Cowboys/FBI )Dustin Adrian Rhodes – STORM OF PASSION (Friends to Lovers )Jaime Samms – MOURNING (Hurt/Comfort )*Justin South – REFLECTIONS (First Love/Hurt-Comfort )Zach Sweets – LUSCIOUS LOVE (Coming out/Food Kinky )Piper Vaughn – WANTING (First Love )*Silvia Violet – TIME TO TELL (Military/Friends to Lover)Deanna Wadsworth – UNSCHEDULED MAINTENANCE (Office Sex )Stuart Wakefield – THE ELEMENTS OF LOVE (Sci-Fi/Ménage )Alex Whitehall – HOLD ME TIGHT (Hurt-Comfort/BDSM Light )Lisa Worrall – JUST ONE KISS (Gay-for-You/Cops )Connor Wright – GONE TO PIECES (Sci-Fi/Mild BDSM )

    What should have been the worst moment of his life begins a journey shadowed by loneliness and pain. The night of a full moon, four years and seven foster homes later, Damien flees to the forest, desperate to escape everything. Instead, he finds the Salgado pack, and the earth beneath his feet shifts. Damien has seen the Salgado children in his school: Koko, who is in his class, and Hakan, two years older and infinitely unreachable. Damien is suddenly introduced into a world that had only ever existed in his imagination, where there is magic in the forest and the moon. He meets creatures that look like monsters, but Damien knows that monsters have the same face as anybody else. Over the years, Damien and Hakan grow closer. First, just as friends and foster brothers in the Salgado house, and then into something heated and breathless when Damien joins Hakan at college. Despite what he may yearn for in the darkest part of the night, Damien knows, deep down in that bruised and mealy part of his core, that he’s not good enough to be part of the Salgado family, their pack. He’s not worthy of calling Hakan his home. Even though he knows in the end it’ll hurt him, he’ll hold onto this for as long as he can. CONTENT WARNING: This book contains themes of emotional and (nonsexual) physical child abuse and the subsequent emotional, cognitive, and behavioural impacts. This story contains sexually explicit scenes between consenting adults and is meant for an adult audience.

    Because of him, I was captured by my loathed enemy: The vampires. Right now, the sun is still high in the sky, but I know when it sets, I’m as good as dead. They can’t wait to get their fangs into me. I guess some would say I have it coming. I did raise a lot of hell with my Resistance crew, and I was planning on raising a hell of a lot more at dawn before I was sold out by Jonah. The vampires, werewolves and dragons, have been trying to track me down for months and I’d always been two steps ahead of them. *Laughs* I guess my number is up. I just hope they make it quick. You see, the vampires in my reality aren’t the romantic lot you read about in books. They don’t sparkle or hang out at high schools with their teenage girlfriends. Hell no, vampires are brutal, calculating, sadistic and bloodthirsty. As a matter of fact, all of the monsters are! That’s how they were able to take over the world so easily and change an entire civilization to suit their needs. Whatever happens, I know it’s not going to be pretty, so I’m preparing myself for the worst. May God help me. Warning: This novelette series contains hardcore sexual situations between men, not meant for sensitive eyes. I’m talking crude, lewd and full of attitude. This series will most likely either offend you or get ya revved up. This series isn’t going to be pulling any punches whatsoever, so you’ve been warned. Mature Adult Content meant for readers looking for something dark, taboo, sexy, and unapologetic in their paranormal erotica. This is NOT a romance. This novelette is approximately 13300 words.

    Maybe it’s the day he’s first been unpacked and settled into his new home! Maybe it’s sometime after he’s settled into a routine. And what IS that routine, anyway? Is he privately owned? Is he on staff at a sexy high-tech brothel? Has he become self-aware enough to run away from the sexy high-tech brothel and follow his heart circuits in search of a better life and someone who can love a synthetic man?Photo Description: A human-like robot, apparently naked, lies on a bed of packing peanuts. He has just been unboxed, and waits for his new owner’s first orders.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" 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.

    He’s still searching for where he fits in. After losing his family in a vicious attack, Dean rebuilt his pack by accepting loners, rejects, other survivors, and even ferals. He and his ragtag group of strays made a warm and welcoming home. Luke believes he’s finally found where he belongs. Meddling parents and a neighbor who isn’t as human as he seems won’t sway him. Luke wants Dean to take in one last stray...him. Content Warning: Shifter knotting/tying, mating heats (yes, plural), and jerky! A 40,643 word short novel

    The brief: the setting of either Australia or New Zealand must be an integral part of the story.Given such a simple scenario, it’s amazing how the stories are similar yet different. They range in location from shearing sheds in New Zealand to Goth nightclubs in provincial Queensland. From surfers on north coast beaches to sophisticated gallery owners in the heart of Sydney. A paranormal story involving werewolves is set in the Hunter Valley while a ghost makes a startling appearance in the South Island of New Zealand.The minor characters also reflect the diversity that can be found in these two countries from Asian cross dressers to Maori siblings and co-workers.The anthology kicks off with a sparkling debut by Susan Beck. You can almost feel the sand between your toes in “Weekend at Lennox” which brilliantly captures two teenagers being forced to share a bed when a group of surfers spend the weekend in a beach house at Lennox Head.The next story “A Soldier’s Will” is set further down the coast near Newcastle where Jess Buffett gives us a taste of a new series based around a Mangrove Mountain pack. In it, a war weary alpha werewolf returns from stints overseas, to shake up the equilibrium of a non-pack human who has idolized him for years.N.J. Nielsen creates some memorable characters and scenes in her story “By the Way”. In this, a country boy wakes up after a night on the town, wondering why he is decked out in collar, handcuffs and the scariest pair of stilettos he’s ever seen. A more gentle pace follows in Pelaam’s which features an established couple, Ethan and Riley, as they take a romantic holiday amongst the vineyards around the Marlborough Sound and meet “The Rose”.“Home” returns us to Oz, this time to the heart of Sydney where we catch up with some of A.B. Gayle’s characters from “Leather+Lace” and “Caught” and are introduced to two new ones: Jesse a sophisticated art gallery owner and Isaac, a typical boy from the bush.And to round up our anthology, we revisit New Zealand, where we shift into the world of hard-working shearers in Meredith Shayne’s touching story “Cutting Out”. You can almost smell the greasy wool, hear the bleating sheep and see the bulging muscles of Lachie and Shane as they work side by side, forging a bond that can transcend culture and age differences.

    He also has a dark secret, one he hides and won't admit even to himself-until the night he meets Laurent.Born to one of the oldest families of his kind, Laurent Montcrieve is vampire royalty. He stands to inherit massive wealth and the title Viscount of the Blood. But he would give it all up to find the one man who can complete him-his Coeur de Sang, or Heart's Blood.Two worlds collide when Laurent and Paul meet and form an accidental blood bond. But the instant spark between them ignites a raging bonfire of conflict. Their people are enemies who would rather see them dead than together and Paul refuses to admit his attraction to another man. Now the clock is ticking as they agree to explore what lies between them. Their search may end in true love or death. But they must be careful...for if they sever the tie that binds them, the bond they share will be forever broken.

    However, tensions within the pack soon escalate when they're forced to all live in the apartment rented by Jax, the human lover of David, the pack's second in command. Knowing he needs money to buy better and bigger accommodation for his pack, River disappears for a few days and returns with a bag of gold chips he's sniffed out from the Cascade River near his old pack grounds. Coyote shifter Foster's true mate has made his presence known, but when the coyote alpha finally shows himself, Foster is faced with a difficult decision. Stay with the werewolves and risk his mate's unhappiness, or leave those he's come to love as family? Meanwhile, David continues to want to submit to Jax while being alpha to his beta mate, Brooks. Tension in the threesome grows as Jax's reluctance to take the bite turns into flat-out refusal. Can their relationship survive this as well as Brooks pregnancy and David's hyper-protectiveness of his werewolf mate? When Josiah suggests the pack admit rogue werewolves, River's desire to please his omega mate wars with his responsibilities to his pack as he questions past decisions and Josiah's influence on them. Will history repeat itself, leading to the downfall of the newly-formed Cascade City Pack?

    When he's out in the world, sometimes other people flicker and change into something terrifying that no one but him can see. He's been diagnosed with epilepsy, but part of him knows what he sees is real. When two men walk into his coffee shop, his world is turned upside down when they transform into something else... and they know he can see them. Already mates, Asher and Quillon aren't expecting to add a third into their mix... but neither of them are opposed to the idea either. When they meet Mikey, they're drawn to him from the first moment. He's a human exposed to their world, though, and the consequences are severe. Can Asher and Quillon protect their new human mate from the forces that threaten him?