I’d impatiently waited three years to take the course, but from the moment he strode in with his sad eyes that mirrored my own, I was intrigued by only him. Dr. Sebastian Wicked. Intrigue turned into obsession, and common interests set the stage for a tentative friendship with the enigmatic man. In time, every line put in place became blurred as what we shared sparked the flames of a forbidden affair. An affair that should've never been, a wrong that the universe sought to right. There was only one possible outcome—we were both going to burn. Would our love rise up from the ashes? Or would it smolder in the ruins?My name is Phoenix Michaelson, and I am the boy who loved Wicked.

    Tell family I’m gay2. Make giant cake for anniversary party3. Convince Connor to be my fake boyfriend for the weekend4. Try to keep my hands off Connor5. Make sure Connor doesn’t find out I’ve been in love with him for the last three yearsConnor’s Steps for Success:1. Perfect pole routine for Chrome Stars2. Continue search for perfect music3. Survive weekend with Patrick’s family without mauling him while sharing a bed4. Prevent feelings from exploding like a glitter bomb5. Make sure Patrick doesn’t find out I’ve been in love with him foreverStrawberry Kisses is a 78,000 word standalone, contemporary MM romance featuring a sweet pastry chef, sassy pole dancer, a nosy but loving family, fabulous make-up, fluffy feels, and copious amounts of cake.

    It’s a cheap stunt, but Mark Adams knows it’s optics that can win or ruin an election.Everything Mark learned about politics, he learned from his father, the congressman who still pretends he has a daughter and not a son. To protect his father’s image, Mark promises to keep his past hidden and pretend to be the cis guy everyone assumes he is. But when he sees a manipulatively charming candidate for student body president inflame dangerous rhetoric, Mark decides to risk the low profile he assured his father and insert himself as a political challenger.One big problem? No one really knows Mark. He didn’t grow up in this town, and he has few friends; plus, the ones he does have aren’t exactly with the in-crowd. Still, thanks to countless seasons of Scandal and The West Wing, these nerds know where to start: from campaign stops to voter polling to a fashion makeover. Soon Mark feels emboldened to get in front of and engage with voters—and even start a new romance. But with an investigative journalist digging into his past, a father trying to silence him, and a bully front-runner who stands in his way, Mark will have to decide which matters most: perception or truth, when both are just as dangerous.

    After suffering a loss and breaking up a long-term relationship, he’s looking for a change. When he receives the news he’s inherited a house in York, he seizes the opportunity to begin a new chapter in his life. However, when he gets there, he finds a house that has never kept its occupants for very long. Either through death or disinclination, no one stays there, and after a few days of living in the place, Levi can understand why. Strange noises can be heard at all hours of the day and night, and disturbing and scary things begin to happen to him. He never believed in ghosts before, but when events take a sinister turn, he knows he must look for help. He finds it in the unlikely form of the blue-haired leader of a ghost tour. Blue Billings is edgy, beautiful, and lost. Utterly lost. He conceals so many secrets that some days it’s a miracle he remembers his own name. He knows that he should ignore Levi because he threatens the tenuous grip Blue has on survival. But there’s something about the kind-eyed man that draws Blue to him. Something that demands he stay and fight for him when he would normally run in the opposite direction. As the two men investigate the shocking truth behind Levi’s house, they also discover a deep connection that defies the short length of time they’ve known each other. But when events escalate and his life is on the line, Levi has to wonder if it was wise to trust the Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings.

    He knows his days on the ice are numbered, but he’s happy with the Moncton Ice Cats and he’s still got some time to figure out what comes next. He’s been taking college classes online and thought he knew what he was doing, but then he made the ultimate rookie mistake. It turns out the poetry class is not the easier way to get his required English credits. Barnaby Birtwistle has exiled himself to the wilds of New Brunswick, leaving London, his so-called friends, and his cheating ex behind. His life is finally getting back on track, and he's going to keep it that way, even if it means living like a monk. Travis is expecting a bookish nerd to help him pass his staggeringly boring class; Barnaby is expecting a meathead hockey player who struggles to string two words together, let alone appreciate poetry. Turns out that they both have something to learn.

    Maybe we were meant to explode.”As a closeted teenager in the Deep South with a holy-roller father and the scars to prove it, bookworm Cole Furman has resigned himself to experiencing life and love only within the pages of his favorite novels. But after Nick Flores seems to walk off a page and starts to rewrite his story, Cole finds his dreams spinning into a dazzling – and complicated – reality. If you have ever found yourself on the wild breathless thriller ride that is young love, Honesty will rip you back again in screaming color.

    Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshman year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan.Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again.

    It started out simple enough. Step one, outsmart Adam with wit and flair, goad him into doing something stupid, and land him in detention. Step two, play video games with Kai all night and laugh about it. Go to bed. Repeat tomorrow. Only, Adam and Kai are about to change the rules on him. First, Adam's bullying turns suddenly violent, leaving Dylan to wonder if his bully really needs a friend. Then, Kai makes an unexpected move Dylan has only imagined in his most secret fantasies. Only he'd never dreamed it might come at a price. While Adam opens up, coming closer to revealing a secret he’s kept his entire life, Kai pulls away even as they get closer than ever. With everything he thought he understood turned upside down, Dylan must decide what he really wants from the men in his life—before inaction loses him the very relationships he's always relied on.No pressure, Dylan. You got this. It's just love. How hard could it be?

    Just don’t be surprised when your ex-girlfriend does the same. And when her incredibly hot fake boyfriend becomes the one island of calm in a sea of bovine-based insanity, it’s best to exercise caution… especially when he pushes you up against the rough barn wall to check you very thoroughly for splinters... Just don’t be surprised if you fall head-over-hooves in love with him.

    It grows. It never leaves. When Joshua Newton, prodigal son of one of New Milton’s elite, fell in love with ambitious young actor Finn Callaghan, his world finally made sense. With every stolen moment, soft touch and breathless kiss, they fell deeper in love.Finn was his future…until he wasn’t. Love stays. Even when you don’t want it to, even when you try to deny it, it stays. Eight years later, Finn has returned to the seaside town where it all began. He’s on the brink of stardom, a far cry from the poor mechanic who spent one gorgeous summer falling in love on the beach.The last thing he wants is a second chance with the man who broke his heart. Finn has spent a long time forgetting Joshua Newton—he certainly doesn’t plan to forgive him. Love grows. It never leaves. One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise : all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!This book is approximately 63,000 wordsEdited by Kerri Buckley

    Now, in the social gauntlet of high school, neither boy can even muster a single word to the other. When Connor enters a romantic relationship with Jaden-Dominic Choi, the hottest social influencer in school, a barely healed wound is torn wide open again. Lars still has nagging questions about the past he needs to be answered before he’s ready to move on—questions Connor is still not willing to address.Joining an illustrious cast of characters for a school production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, the former friends suddenly find themselves in the same social circle again, but it’s a complicated affair as Lars can’t seem to put his feelings for Connor behind him. Forced to revisit their shared history, he increasingly feels that history needs to be rewritten…

    Right and wrong, justice and injustice—the differences are clear, and Will has spent his career drawing a line between them. Maybe his convictions have cost him relationships, but he’s not willing to compromise what he knows is right. Until the night he meets Amory Vaughn.As the head of his family’s philanthropic foundation, Vaughn knows very well that being rich and powerful can get him almost anything he wants. And when he meets endearingly grumpy and slightly awkward William Fox, he wants him more than he’s wanted anything. Vaughn is used to being desired for his name and his money, but Will doesn’t care about either.When Vaughn falls back on old habits and attempts to impress Will by stealing a painting Will admires, their nascent bond blows up in his face. But Vaughn isn’t willing to give up on the glimpse of passion he saw the night he took Will apart. Before Will knows it, he’s falling for the man he should have arrested, and Vaughn has to realize that some things can’t be bought or stolen. Love has to be given freely. But can a man who lives by the rules, and a man who thinks the rules don’t apply to him, ever see eye to eye? Heart of the Steal is a standalone romance with a happy ending. It features a Southern gentleman who thinks he’s always right, a buttoned-up FBI agent who secretly likes his buttons unbuttoned, and wall sex. And desk sex. And picnic blanket sex.

    Until he meets Tork. Tork is clever and funny. He makes origami models and reads Dickens. Tork has green hair and makes Adam's heart race with longing. But Tork is homeless and not at all impressed with Adam's attitude.Can Adam see past his fear and arrogance? Can Tork give Adam a chance? Can two such different men turn the world upside down and find out what really matters? Read to find out their story.Content Warning: the story includes reference to and description of self-harming.* * * * *A story from Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology

    One road trip. And eight inches …... of snow that night at the cabin.If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Friends don't bang friends.I want my friends to stay in my life, especially that flirty, clever, outgoing best friend of mine.It's a damn good thing Owen and I made a pact in college to never ever sleep together, or else I'd be tempted.Trouble is, eight years later I've been wondering what his kisses taste like. And I've been curious if our chemistry would extend into the bedroom. If he might feel the same risky pull.But I don't want to lose Owen, and history says there's no way a tryst between friends can end well.So as long as I avoid the bedroom with him, I won't break that hard-as-steel rule.Except the snow has other plans …The Bromance Zone is a deliciously flirty, red-hot sexy, friends-to-lovers MM romance about the charming guy next door who's sworn to never date a friend, the flirty hot nerd who's been secretly crushing on that friend forever, and one night snowed in in a cabin. This book comes fully equipped for your reading pleasure with sexy banter, a super awkward dinner party, and a scene in front of a fireplace that proves just how dangerous the friend zone is!

    Self-assured and playful, he’s never left wanting for suitors—but Bash isn’t looking for something permanent. He’s more than fulfilled with his company and his closest friends, and no one is going to shake up the status quo.That is, until he’s thrown over the shoulder of one of Chicago’s finest and hauled out of a burning building.Kieran Bailey, a sexy, hardworking lieutenant at Station 73, has been reaping the rewards of being crowned the city’s hottest fireman, which his crew never lets him forget. So many ladies, so little time. So when he rescues the latest damsel in distress, no one is more shocked than him to realize he’s played prince charming to another … prince.But Bash isn’t like anyone Kieran has ever met, and soon his world is turned upside down as he becomes more intrigued by the enigmatic man that he can’t stay away from.They’re from two different worlds. This could never work. But what if … they dared to try?Dare You is book one of the Dare to Try trilogy, an M/M romance, which must be read in order. Prior reading is not required, but is always a fantastic idea for maximum enjoyment.