People he thought were friends didn't stick with him and he's somehow become kind of a recluse without meaning to be. Only Mike, his best friend since they were kids, has stuck by him and is now saving him from homelessness after a fire destroys Brian's apartment building days before Christmas. Though Mike has to go down South for the holiday, Brian stays in Mike's apartment with his slightly singed kitten Oreo.Brian's only goal is to set his affairs back in order before everything shuts down for the holidays and then make it through those holidays in one piece. He's lost so much -- his only real possession is a photo album of his mom that he risked death to save from the fire -- and he's feeling lost and very alone...until Mike, his hot neighbor Trent, and even little Oreo conspire to give Brian the best Christmas possible and a future that looks a lot brighter.

    Even if he has to max out his credit card. Even if he hates the man for leaving him. Even if it’s a day before Christmas.Everything that can go wrong does go wrong, and Vin ends up trusting a complete stranger with all his secrets, even the ones he didn't know he had.Luca Romano’s job as a flight attendant takes him all over the world. But a jet-setting lifestyle is not what he wants. His dream of opening his own restaurant is being placed on hold over circumstances beyond his control.Timing is everything...When Vin bursts into Luca’s life, both men fall fast and hard. But their lives, their dreams, even the cities they live in couldn’t be more different.Their few days together in Rome are romantic, emotionally intense, and leave them both wanting more.Can a fleeting love affair change their lives forever?

    Each year, Pat gets the same response—zero. Except this year’s different. Finally, someone agrees to role-play Pat’s dead mate. Spending Christmas Eve with a rich psycho shifter might seem unreasonable to some. To survive the harsh winter, former soldier Jacob Reynolds has no choice but to turn to desperate measures…except Pat Singer isn’t the crazy bastard Jacob imagines him to be. The sexy, but reluctant werebear pushes all of Jacob’s right buttons, and if Jacob doesn’t guard his heart, he might end up getting burned.

     His sex life has been nonexistent for some time, though. After a particularly bad hookup, he keeps mostly to himself. That leaves chocolate. Luckily, he works surrounded by the most delicious, extravagant produce in Gothenburg. Beside his job at the chocolaterie, his main source of excitement is his online friend, Magnus, whom he stubbornly refuses to meet in person. A customer turns up at the chocolaterie one day—tall, shy, and charming. He could be just the right man. If Michał can step out of his overly safe shell, there might be not only chocolate, but sex, too. Maybe chocolate-flavored sex. And if he’s lucky, maybe even love. Warning: This book contains explicit scenes, adult language, and obscene amounts of chocolate.

    He was wearing that damn T-shirt and now I can't get it out of my head. I'm thirty-two years old and have never topped in my life. Guys seem to think I have a sign on my forehead that says “bottom only”. The one time I asked, it didn't go well. But now it seems I see this kid, he's twenty if he's a day, everywhere, and that T-shirt text is burned in my brain. I wonder...Can be any genre you like, and as explicit as you like. I'm not too fussy, but a first time top should be fun.Photo Description: The slim, taut torso of a young man from neck to hips wearing a T-shirt that says “I Would Bottom You So Hard”Genre:contemporaryTags:first time top, age gap, gaining self-worth, bottom you so hard, younger teacher/older student, beautiful boyWord count:20,237This 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.

    But before he can make a decision on his future, he finds himself in trouble with the dark-haired sexy, Head Elf, Gabriel. Trouble comes in the form of having to be the Head Elf's assistant for the season, but after a kiss under the mistletoe, their relationship takes a naughty turn and by Christmas, Christian only has eyes and love for Gabriel. Will the Head Elf return his deeper feelings?

    Creepily so. He makes art out of road kill, writes love letters to people he’s never met, and stares incessantly at pretty men without them ever noticing. He spotted the guy on the right walking his dog through fields, and made him his newest object of affection. Only problem was, when he started staring at this guy, he stared back.Photo Description: The backs of two teenage boys holding hands, one slightly leaning in toward the other. They’re walking through a field, illuminated by the sunlight in front of them. Around them are tall grasses and yellow stalks of wheat.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. 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.

    Heedless of the holiday, the Commander of the H’Aren fortress, Captain Torýn Torhdhar, seems to find his satisfaction in work. Such occurrence hardly surprises his Orderly, Sæbastyn Hyago, even though the young Lieutenant has spent a silent, aching decade wishing his superior officer would pursue pleasure elsewhere—specifically in his arms. But as the evening continues, nothing about it meets Sæbastyn’s expectations. Will the Lieutenant see his secret desires realised, or his heart shattered?This alternative winter holiday short, set in the Order Universe, will be available FREE in December as a part of the 2017 Rainbow Advent Calendar.

    has always hated the holidays. Presents, decorations, the traditional family Christmas…It’s all his colleagues in the staffroom can talk about. J.J. avoids these conversations like the plague. He’d do anything to keep his co-workers from seeing the real J.J, the gay man who doesn’t want to be noticed. When he slips up and reveals that he is all alone with no plans for Christmas, the well-meaning ladies of his high school want to take him in for the holidays. Oh hell….Enter Coach Adam Sutton who comes to his rescue—and now J.J. is trapped by this hulk of a man who won’t take no for an answer. And he would have to be someone J.J finds attractive, wouldn’t he? Too bad he’s straight and J.J’s not about to step out of the shadows and make a move on him. He likes his arms where they are, thank you very much.But Adam has a secret, one which is going to turn J.J’s world upside-down. Adam wants to give J.J. a Christmas to remember, but as it turns out, both men’s lives are never going to be the same again…

    French chef Luc Tessier is five-star successful. His cookery program on TV is rated as high as his restaurant, and casual flings are his specialty. The only stain on his toque is Daniel Sheridan, an English food critic who has made it his business to ruin Luc's reputation. The only way to clarify this particular pat of butter is to invite the critic to dine and bury the hatchet-preferably in Daniel's back. The moment he lays eyes on Daniel, however, Luc's thoughts turn from sauces to seduction. Daniel definitely finds Luc appetizing, but he plays it cool. He never wants to be anyone's toy, ever again. Yet in the face of Luc's relentless pursuit, he's finding it harder to keep the flamboyant chef at arm's length. A cooking competition on a remote Scottish island seems the perfect way to put some distance between them. Until Luc shows up to compete, determined to win not only the trophy, but Daniel's heart... Warning: Ingredients include two extremely hot men determined to come up with a whole new definition for "sizzling." Explicit use of food items could incite spontaneous nekkid food fights.

    On his first Christmas away from home, he assures his worried family he’ll be having a real Christmas dinner.Recent culinary school graduate Tom Stockton earns some extra money giving out cooking advice at the Talk Turkey hotline. Tom’s honeyed voice and sharp sense of humor are attractive to the lonely Carson, and Carson finds reasons to call the hotline again and again. But on Christmas Eve, Carson’s call is less playful and more panicked with the big meal looming. Carson is just looking for advice, but Tom has a surprise in store that might lead to much more.A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2015 Advent Calendar package "Sleigh Ride".

    Owen is disconcerted to realize he's still attracted to Caleb Black but refuses to pursue him. Caleb left him once, and Owen's not going down that road again.Caleb is ready for a second chance with Owen and gets it when fate and the matchmaking McKenzies conspire to strand the two men in a rustic cabin during a snowstorm on Christmas Eve. Can Caleb convince Owen to rekindle their romance so they can stop spending their holidays apart?Nine Lights Over Edinburgh By Harper FoxDetective Inspector James McBride is riding high on the belief that he's about to bust a human-trafficking ring. But just five days before Christmas, his unorthodox methods catch up with him and his world comes crashing down.McBride tries to concentrate on his new day job as security for the visiting Israeli ambassador. He even starts to feel a renewed sense of self-worth when the leader of the Israeli team, the aristocratic Tobias Leitner, takes a bullet for him in the line of duty. But he can't forget the trafficking case, especially when his investigations result in the kidnapping of his own daughter! McBride has no one to turn to for help-no one, except Toby.Can these two very different men work together to bring about a holiday miracle-and heal one another's heart in the process?I Heard Him Exclaim By Z.A. MaxfieldWho Likes a Skinny Santa?Steve Adams's heart hasn't been in the Christmas spirit ever since doctors put a stent in it and ordered him to clean up his act. No longer filling out his Santa suit or allowed to make merry, he's forgoing the holidays this year and heading to Vegas to indulge in the few vices left to him: gambling and anonymous sex.His road trip takes a detour when he encounters Chandler Tracey, who's just inherited guardianship of his five-year-old niece. Overwhelmed, Chandler's on his way to deliver Poppy to his parents. But fate has other plans and, after car trouble, Chandler and Poppy accept a ride home with Steve. Though the heat between the two men is obvious, they put it on simmer while they band together to make Poppy's Christmas as perfect as possible.Steve soon comes to believe that while Chandler is the right person to look after Poppy, someone needs to look after Chandler. Fortunately, Steve knows just the man for the job.Icecapade By Josh LanyonOn the eve of the new millennium, diamond thief Noel Snow seduced FBI special agent Robert Cuffe, then fled into the dawn. Now a successful novelist, Noel uses his capers as fodder for his books, and has modeled his hero's nemesis (and potential love interest) on Cuffe. Though he leaves Robert a drunken phone message every New Year's Eve, Noel hasn't seen or heard from him in a decade.So he's thrilled when his former lover shows up at his upstate farm one Christmas Eve. Elation quickly turns to alarm when Robert accuses Noel of being responsible for a recent rash of diamond heists. Robert is all business and as cold as ice: it seems his only interest in Noel is to put him behind bars.Innocent of the crimes, and still as attracted as ever to the oh-so-serious lawman, Noel plans a second seduction-providing he can stay out of jail long enough!

    Time for family, celebration, and anxiety. The new baby is a blessing in Jeff, Evan and Dan's lives, but he's also one more thing to worry about. Jeff isn't sure society will accept their nontraditional family, Evan isn't sure what he has to offer the baby, and Dan... well, Dan's Dan. He's got PLENTY to worry about.

    But in the ten years since graduation, their contact has dwindled to nothing, and it’s all Keith’s fault. If he hadn’t tried to kiss Parker under the mistletoe at the winter formal their senior year, Parker wouldn’t have bolted. At their ten-year reunion, Keith intends to do everything in his geeky power to make amends.Parker should have known that scheduling the reunion the day before Christmas Eve was a recipe for a headache of monster proportions. But when Keith sends a text that he’ll be attending, the evening doesn’t look so bleak. Can an unnecessary makeover, a nostalgic breakfast, an abortive shopping trip, and a whole lot of mistletoe culminate in a long-overdue first kiss?

    Now he’s dodging a posse of angry yobs, his head reeling from more than the missile that just hit him. Just who is this stranger sprinting at his side? By the time it’s safe for him and Raf to emerge from their refuge, there’s a definite connection between them. And yet there’s something about Raf’s story that doesn’t quite add up. Will Barney's I-dared-to-believe dreams go up in smoke or is this New Year’s Eve the one Where Forever Started?