Or… When the code breaks down, fate just might take over. Eleven of your favorite gay romance authors have joined forces to light up your Valentine’s Day with a collection of sweet, sexy, silly, and hot short stories, featuring a wacky cast of characters chosen from your reader suggestions! Morticians and magicians, superheroes and spies, lawyers and lobstermen, will all learn that love has nothing to do with algorithms… and sometimes you find it in the least-likely places. And the best part? All proceeds from this collection will go to the authors’ favorite LGBTQ charities, to ensure that love in all its incarnations will be celebrated and protected every single day of the year! Titles included in the collection:The Magician and the Mortician by E.A. Wasp The Professional Gamer and the Paranormal Photographer by Alison Hendricks The Assassin and the Dog Walker by Charlie Cochet The Criminal and the Sommelier by Chris Owen The Superhero and the NSA Agent by Hailey Turner The Tattoo Artist and the Writer by Lily Morton The Uber Driver and the Phone Sex Operator by Lucy Lennox The Baker and the SEAL by May Archer The Event Planner and the Electrician by Poppy Dennison The Lawyer and the Lobsterman by Ruthie Luhnow The Florist and the Lawyer by Sloane Kennedy

    They’ve always had each other’s back, but when one walks in on the other with another man, everything changes. How do you explain to your best friend that he’s the one you’ve always wanted, that until now your life has been a lie? Desperation and shame are two dirty words that run through Jason’s veins. He carries the scars from a wayward priest who stole his innocence and left him shattered. Meanwhile for years he’s watched Dean pursuing woman after woman, as his own heart slowly breaks.When their world blows apart, they learn the powerful bond between them has more fire than either understood. Can two broken souls find the light in their darkness and come together to make a whole, or will sins of the past be forever unforgiven?This standalone is a M/M love story with graphic sex. Trigger warning.

    Think wedding destination, white sandy beaches, lurve… except at the moment Joshua is struggling to pay the electricity bill, they’ve no paying customers, and even if they did they can’t afford the repairs from the devastating hurricane that struck three years ago – and to top it off they have to take in Daniel, a grumpy businessman who has been ordered by his doctor to take some time off before he has a heart attack from too much stress.Funnily enough, Daniel owns a very expensive hotel chain that has been trying to buy the island for the past two years. Not that Joshua knows that yet, and boy are sparks gonna fly when he thinks he’s been set up.Of course, sparks of a different kind are also soon flying between them.Then there’s Matt who just got let out of prison, Charlie who ran away from home, and Ben, a famous model until a devastating house fire destroyed his face.Welcome to Rainbow Key – held together by love, family, and sticky tape.

    Niles and Rylan have been together a long time. They have great sex, they are deeply intimate, and Rylan never holds back on displaying his affection. As far as their family and friends are concerned, they’re an established couple, and yet, after three years of being “together”, Niles is still unsure if they’re actually in a relationship.As their sexual intensity reaches a dangerous tipping point, Niles must find the courage to articulate how he feels in order to try and keep the only thing he has ever wanted. Emotional and compelling, It’s Like This is a must-read for true romantics.

    His parents cut off contact because he’s gay and his boyfriend left him, choosing drugs over love. Aside from his rescued pit bull, his only joy is hanging out with his younger brother. Then his mother does the unthinkable and forbids them to see each other, leaving Ryder devastated and alone. His friends urge him to date, but Ryder would rather throw himself into working at the dog rescue and figuring out a way to see his brother again.When Jason Mallory’s girlfriend gives him an ultimatum to get married, he shocks everyone by breaking up with her instead. He believes he's too busy for a relationship now that the construction company he started with his brother is taking off. When he discovers a group of abandoned pit bulls and calls the local dog rescue group to pick them up, an uncomfortable encounter with Ryder causes Jason to question feelings he’s hidden deep inside for years.Jason and Ryder build a friendship, until an unexpected kiss sparks the attraction they’ve been fighting. Jason gives Ryder unconditional love and helps him reconnect with his brother while Ryder shows Jason the passion he’s always missed in relationships. Together they must battle through their family differences and ugly prejudices. Only then can they prove that once you find the right person to love, there’s no turning back.This has been re-edited and revised from the original release of 2014

    DALTON I have it all figured out. I’m going to marry the woman I love and I’m going to put in the work for that promotion. Life can only get better from here on out. Or so I thought. My blushing bride elopes minutes before the ceremony and turns my life upside down. I’m now heading to Vermont with Marshmallow to seal the deal on his soon to be Bed and Breakfast. After a series of unfortunate coincidences, Marshal and I are fake-dating, but my long repressed desire starts lurking from deep within. Impossible. I’m not bi, right? I can’t discover that at twenty-nine, can I? It must be the breakup trauma; nothing more. It’s got nothing to do with my homophobic upbringing, surely. But my broken heart flutters more every time I see him. MARSHAL My best friend stole my first kiss and I’ve loved him ever since. Dalton doesn’t know it, though. Nobody knows. It’s only written in dozens of unsent letters I can’t bring myself to destroy and finally move on. I can’t stand pretending to be his boyfriend when pining after him is all I’ve ever known. And I can’t let us fool around even when he kisses me again. He’s heartbroken and lonely – that’s a far cry from being in love. I will not be his rebound. The charming small town of Rocky Springs quickly gets under our skin and it doesn’t take much to make me fantasize about our future here. Except it’s all fake. Dalton has a career to go back to once his heart is healed and I am building my future here. We’re a lost cause. With a Pinch of Love is a slow-burn, fake boyfriends, best friends to lovers, bisexual awakening, close proximity, standalone romance. It’s a heart-wrenching story with a healthy dose of angst and a grand, hard-earned happily ever after. Lose yourself in the sleepy town of Rocky Springs as Marshal and Dalton fall in love against all odds.

    Not every compass points north.
Andrew Summers is forced to spend his vacations reliving Civil War battles with his father. He hates every minute until a blue-eyed, red-haired boy behind enemy lines catches his eye.Shep Wells would much rather travel the world than play at boring war reenactments. He never dreamed a Texan boy would capture his heart.Real life and years separate them; Andrew is forced onto real battlefields, but for Shep the world is a playground. They’re opposites, but writing letters closes the distance, uncovering their hopes and dreams. When Shep visits Andrew, they get to see if the tug they’ve felt for years is the compass pointing the way home.A story about first times, second chances, and the transformative power of the written word.

    It was wrong, and it never should have happened. But, the past refuses to stay buried, wrongs start feeling right, and lines begin to blur. Sometimes, the heart wants what the heart wants, and nothing will stand in its way. Consequences be damned. Rules be damned. Sometimes, secrets are sinfully delicious. **This book contains content of a taboo nature**

    He has a new career that doesn’t feel like his, and parents who would just love to see him settled down. All he needs is a temporary buffer for the parties he has to attend, and for his parents to leave him alone. Enter, Luke.Luke is twenty-thousand dollars short for the renovations on Halligans; his family’s bar in New York’s Financial District. A favor for a buddy has him agreeing to play the part of boyfriend to a guy with more money than sense.But when the spirit of Christmas works its magic on the two men, and they begin to fall for each other, Derek runs scared, and Luke needs space. It doesn’t matter what obstacles you throw in the way of love, or how much you run in the other direction, because, when you’re least expecting it, whether you want it or not, love happens anyway.

    Although Kennedy claims to be neutral in his choice, he has certain non-negotiable requirements. Applicants must be between twenty-one and twenty-five, non-smoking, social drinkers, either versatile or passive, and be able to pull off the role of dutiful boyfriend in front of his clutch of gay friends. What does the candidate get out of the deal? An all-expenses-paid holiday and five grand in cash at the end, more if the candidate exceeds his expectations—a safe enough addendum, because for the past three years no one ever has.Kieran West sits in a quiet corner of the coffee shop, trying to finish an assignment. At twenty-nine, he is single once again. By now he should have settled down. But when his girlfriend of three years gives him an ultimatum—ring or road—he chooses the road. Worst of all, he has no qualms about doing so. As for his finances? Saddled with a string of outstanding student loans, he is struggling to finish his master’s while also supporting his brother through university. Losing his work at the estate agents’ could not have come at a worse time. Then he overhears the man at a nearby table recruiting for a job that pays a cool five grand. What does he have to lose?General Release Date: 17th November 2020

    His perpetually bright and cheery personality feels right at home for Christmas. He has time off from work and a husband who’s waiting for him at home, what else would he need? Well, he had no idea he would be needing to sign divorce papers - let’s start there. Declan Rose-Covington, part of a luxury hotel dynasty, is coming into Stonewall Investigations because he needs help with a family issue. With his mom’s huge holiday retreat around the corner, he’s hoping to solve it before Santa comes to town. The last thing he’s expecting is to enter the detective agency and fall for the strikingly handsome man sitting behind the front desk. Of course, life has ways of delivering well-wrapped surprises. When Declan and Andrew meet they both feel an instant connection. Soon, the connection grows powerful enough to push Declan toward a crazy proposition: invite Andrew to the family retreat as a fake boyfriend. Andrew would get a nice week-long vacation out of it and Declan would avoid the judgemental jabs from all the spoused-up family members. The potential for disaster was there, but there was also a chance to truly make this the most wonderful time of the year. And that was something neither of them wanted to miss out on. ______________________ Deck The Halls is a full-length and standalone Stonewall Investigations story.

    One he’s been hiding since he graduated from South Haven all-boys academy—and that secret’s name is Lucas.When a work trip takes Jackson back to his old stomping grounds, memories of the year he shared with Lucas come crashing to the surface. With growing pressure from his father to settle down and take over the family business, Jackson knows he’s on borrowed time, and sets out to find the free-spirited daredevil he once knew.But Lucas isn’t the same man he was eight years ago.One night. A shattered heart. And an endless parade of nameless faces. Lucas Sullivan is South Haven’s ultimate playboy, a reputation he’s honed since the only boy he ever loved left without a trace. To the world, he’s brash and confident, an in-demand artist who spends his days designing one-of-a-kind pieces and his nights as king of the downtown scene.Many have tried and failed to get past the barrier he’s carefully constructed, but it’s the shy, studious boy he once coaxed out of his shell who still haunts him.Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe it was lust. Or maybe…it was a little bit like love.

    Newly single and with a class reunion just a couple of weeks away, all of his old high school friends are about to find out that his picture perfect life is actually falling apart. Except maybe nobody has to know. Maybe Trevor can still have his cake and eat it, too. “Pretending to be gay to score a free trip home? Nothing to worry about, right?” Wyatt Hayes never expected that his life would be this hard. The modeling contract he’d scored was supposed to have been his ticket to the good life. Waiting tables and sharing a walk-up studio the size of a shoe box was never supposed to be part of the deal, but even those things are easier to stomach than constantly having to make excuses to his family to hide the fact that he’s too broke to visit. “One weekend, no strings attached.” But sometimes even the best laid plans can get a little tangled when faking it starts to feel a little too real… Weekend Boyfriend is a steamy standalone featuring a hopeless romantic whose life isn’t nearly as perfect as he would like everyone to believe, a waiter who isn’t quite as straight as he thinks, and a class reunion where anything might happen. No cliffhangers and a guaranteed happily-ever-after ending.

    What you see is what you get, and what you get happens to be straight. This is no mere opinion. It's a fact - tried and tested. So, when I end up kissing my best friend to satisfy a lost bet, I already know I'll hate every second of it.Until I don't.The intense desire aroused by Logan's kiss has me asking all sorts of new and exciting questions. Thankfully, as a developmental psychologist, I know exactly how to find the answers I need.LoganI've put a lot of effort into keeping Patrick out of my fantasies and in the friend-zone. Our recent lip-lock may have unleashed my feelings for him temporarily, but I'll get them back on their platonic track in no time. Falling for a friend, especially a sexually ambivalent friend, is a one-way ticket to heartache.Then Patrick announces his intention to conduct an experiment into the extent of his bisexuality. I can't resist volunteering to help. If any man is going to join Patrick on his journey of self-discovery, it's sure as hell going to be me. The Experiment is a steamy, best friends to lovers, bisexual awakening, gay for you story with high heat and low angst. It is a standalone novel set in Australia. Swoon-worthy HEA included.

    Right Now, but for how long? When Russ suffers a Thanksgiving disaster, his gorgeous neighbor Esteban is there to save the day. And after an innocent mix-up leads to the former Hollywood hottie playing the role of Russ’s date, Russ thinks scoring Esteban as his fake boyfriend is a huge win. The newly discharged marine is healing inside and out and could use some holiday cheer. For his part, Esteban is intrigued by his big, bad neighbor. He likes how his matchmaking cat brings out an unexpected caring side of Russ. Desire flares as the reasons to continue their ruse pile up for both men. And pretending feels so good. From chocolaty kisses to late night cuddles, their burgeoning friendship is getting cozier and cozier. But as the end date for their little deception looms, all the real feelings they’ve tried to ignore come tumbling in. Each must decide whether they have what it takes to ring in the New Year as a couple. Mr. Right Now is a stand-alone holiday novella with sweet, low-angst feels, spicy love scenes, and foodie inspired, quirky Oregon romance with a military flavor. Happy ending guaranteed with no cliffhangers! MM Holiday Romance.