In a single tragic moment, he goes from an artist with a loving partner and a future to an uninspired comic book store owner who barely exists. He hides behind a shield of grief, refusing to let Aaron go. He feels guilty for even trying to imagine a life apart from what he’d had.The charming party planner Quinn’s best friend insists he meet on a blind date isn’t someone he’s ready for. Brady Banner walks into Quinn’s small frozen world and turns everything upside down. For years, Quinn has focused on endings, but as Brady begins to thaw his existence, Quinn realizes that one moment can do more than stop a life—it can also start a new one.

    He’ll never be able to work in his field again, his education is all but useless, and his surgeons are pessimistic about whether he’ll ever walk again. He needs someone in his corner, but most lawyers take one look at his tattoo-covered foster father and turn their backs. It’s just Sean’s luck that the one attorney willing to give him a chance is also the hottest guy he’s ever seen.As a trial lawyer, Nate Delany has a lot to prove—to his father, the world, and himself. Sean intrigues Nate, and he struggles to reconcile the gifted tattoo artist he can’t stop fantasizing about with the quiet, brilliant engineer. His investigation reveals facts left out of the accident report—including an illicit affair, greedy coworkers, and a vicious corporation that will do anything to protect its bottom line. When Sean’s life is threatened, winning Sean’s case, and his heart, becomes a lot more dangerous.

    Or a lot, according to his manager Charlie. He's been drinking and partying, and he's not getting any younger, so Charlie hires a personal trainer to get Hollis back in line. Before he ruins his career. Jeremy is just the trainer for the job. Even-tempered and able to put up with anything Hollis throws his way, Jeremy is determined to do his job and get that fine rock star back into fighting trim. And ignore the attraction to Hollis that plagues him on a daily basis. Fighting Jeremy takes more effort than Hollis can summon, and soon he's getting back in shape, despite the occasional foray into sausage biscuits and hamburgers. Things are going well for Hollis and Jeremy both, in their jobs and their blossoming personal life. They're playing with fire, though. Hollis is trying to keep his sex life a secret, and Jeremy's livelihood depends on his discretion. As long as Hollis is on tour, Jeremy has the perfect excuse to hang around. But when a terrible accident separates them, Hollis and Jeremy have to start sneaking around to see each other. Can their newfound love survive the web of deception and pain they've created?

    His mum died during the summer holidays, his older brother, the only person he feels he can talk to, is away at university, and he lives with a father who simply can’t deal with anything emotional. Justin tries to navigate his way through his final year at secondary school but his friends and teachers no longer seem to know how to treat him, or what to say, so they keep their distance.But then there’s Niall Casey; he’s funny and compassionate, and makes Justin feel things that confuse him; they make him feel wonderful but even more isolated at the same time. As if Justin’s life isn’t complicated enough, he now has to try to make sense of the thoughts and emotions that course through him every time he sees Niall.This is a story about taking risks, facing the truth and finding love when it seems that the whole world is against you.

    He feels that Appalachian pull in his blood, but that hasn’t tamed his wild side. A youth full of pranks left him with the nickname Stunt and a preference for danger in and out of bed. Other than a few contrary moonshiners who hate him for philosophical reasons since he’s a forestry technician and federal employee, he doesn’t have a problem in the world. Then one day he runs into Alex Soto, a man out for revenge.Just out of prison, Alex knows firsthand that the justice system doesn’t treat poor and rich equally, so he’ll have to go outside the law to avenge his brother’s death. When an innocent man lands in the middle of his plans, he doesn't know what to do… other than take him hostage. Unfortunately, he never planned on having to deal with Stunt or with the twisted logic that passes for reasonable in Stunt’s mountain home.

    Once there, he finds that not even the beauty of the island can fill the hole in his heart. Broke and spent in nearly every way imaginable, Niall wants out of the lonely, miserable, guilt-ridden life he's carved out for himself.When Ethan Bettencourt, a wealthy tech guru, shows up in British Virgin Islands looking to purchase a second home, he gives Niall hope that he can move on. Both men fall hard and fast, but Niall finds piloting his yacht in the midst of a hurricane is nothing compared to weathering life's simple misunderstandings. As their troubles come between them, Niall is left to wonder if he and Ethan are over before they've begun.

    With his dog by his side, Travis raises his three children, manages his business, and works as a ranch hand. But every day, every minute, is an aching emptiness. Wesley Ryan has fond memories of the small Ozark town of El Dorado. Seeing it as a safe place to put his failed relationships behind him, Wesley moves into his grandparents’ old home and takes over the local veterinary clinic. An early morning visit from Travis and his dog stirs feelings that Wesley seeks to push away—the last thing he needs is to fall for a man with baggage and three kids as part of the package. Life, it seems, has other plans.

    Almost as bad as the still-overwhelming grief is the advice he gets from everyone and their brother, telling him to move on with his life. They’re flat-out wrong. Brett left his country music career and escaped to his ranch because needs the peace and quiet. He doesn’t want anyone invading his memory-filled, booze-fueled solitude.JT Campbell’s world had been defined by his parents’ money and his own empty relationships, until he couldn’t live that way anymore. A quest to find something more meaningful leads him to Brett’s ranch. It’s supposed to be a brief stay. JT never wanted to be anyone’s savior or compete with the ghosts of lovers past. Still, he can’t help wanting this gruff, mourning man.JT knows it’s a bad idea, but his heart keeps pushing him to find out what lies beneath Brett’s battered exterior. Brett’s not going to make it easy, so JT can only be patient, keep his sense of humor, and hope one day he’ll be allowed far enough into Brett’s world to unbreak his heart.

    The surprise is the magnetic, heated attraction to the enigmatic Julian Piet, a charming doctor with killer good looks that appears to treat him, sending Jack off his lonely course.Now that their paths have crossed, Jack and Julian head off in a new direction - but between Jack's reluctance to be open about his sexuality and Julian's shattered self-confidence, they can't seem to decide what direction that is. It takes a push from Julian's meddlesome sister to send them stumbling headfirst into romance.Happily wrapped up in their fledgling relationship, Jack and Julian think they may have found their way until unexpected roadblocks appear on their path to forever. Wrathful storms, dangerous illness, family connections, and broken hearts threaten their tenuous balance and will send them spinning apart – their love scattered to the four winds - if they cannot believe and trust that together, they can find true north.

    In need of a new accountant to sort out his nightmarish shoebox of tax receipts, he's referred to Logan Willis. He doesn't expect to be intrigued by the science fiction-loving, geeky guy with dark-rimmed glasses and a TARDIS-blue shirt. So his fascination with the soft-spoken Englishman surprises him, and their mutual attraction is completely unexpected. He most certainly never expects to fall in love. One a jock and the other a geek, both men know the differences between them are vast and could cause problems. But in this opposites-attract erotic drama, maybe it's the differences between them that make staying together worth the fight.

    He doesn’t have time to date, but that’s not to say he doesn’t have needs.Instead of trying to find a date, Jordan makes an appointment with a prostitute—something he’s never done before—and his companion turns out to be his high school crush, Gabe! Panic would ruin everything, including the chance at something real that Jordan suddenly craves.

    Then he coaxes Mike, the shy, socially inept pathologist he talks books with online, into a real-time meeting. He hadn't planned for them to become more than perhaps casual lovers, but as he and Mike grow closer, Kellen realizes he might be edging toward his first real relationship. Except that his finances are getting shaky, and his elderly mother is rapidly becoming confused, unpredictable, and needy. He's faced with difficult choices, and not sure how much he can handle.Mike considers himself a nerd of the highest order— short, bespectacled, prone to blurting out the wrong thing at the worst possible time. Meeting Kellen face to face is the biggest risk he's taken, and he doesn't expect it to be a success. But first meeting leads to first date, first everything for Mike. So it's confusing when Kellen begins pulling away, just as Mike gets up the nerve to move closer.Kellen's most important goal has always been self-sufficiency. His mother taught him to stand on his own two feet. If he lets himself lean on anyone now, even Mike, is he heading for a fall, just when his mother needs him most?**This book has been edited and polished, but is not substantially changed from the 2013 original.

    But he doesn’t get far into their first conversation before he realizes what he’s feeling is attraction, which brings him up short. Jaxon has always been a womanizer.Despite his reservations, Jaxon makes a play for Liam, but Liam has his own issues. Unlucky in love and orphaned at sixteen, he is reluctant to open his heart to anyone, and dismisses Jaxon out of hand.Driven by a need he doesn’t understand, Jaxon organizes a return to Sydney to film his next project. If he can’t be with Liam, maybe they can be friends. Of course, that creates a whole new problem. Now Jaxon is falling in love for the first time. How can he move their relationship from friends to lovers without destroying the trust he’s worked so hard for?

    To this day, Shane has never wanted anyone more, and all the sex and alcohol in the world can’t fill the void Jesse left behind. Not even the prospect of teaming up with Britain’s hottest band, Moonlight, for a massive world tour can get him out of his funk. Then he meets lead singer Kayden Berlin and falls into instant lust. Kayden may act like he’s not interested, but Shane knows he feels the spark between them. Yet the harder Shane pushes, the more Kayden pulls away, until one explosive night leaves Shane with a broken heart. That seems to be his lot — lucky at everything but love. Shane still has one lesson left to learn, though: when it comes to love, you can’t always leave things to chance.

    Not only does he take animal abuse personally, he has a temper and isn’t afraid to show it. However, he changes his tune when the newest veterinarian starts working for the Animal Services Center.Recovering from an abusive relationship and hiding supernatural abilities of his own, Brian O’Donogue wants a fresh start and a new place to call home. Quickly dubbed the “animal shrink” by co-workers, Brian doesn’t know what to make of Derek at first. Then he manages to confront Derek during one of his rages, and they both see each other in a new light.Eventually they take a chance on their feelings and the ensuing relationship is better than either of them could have hoped—until a rogue wolf shifter attacks Brian. The abrupt attack forces Derek and Brian to confront their secrets and whether their relationship can weather the storm heading their way.The rogue shifter is out there, and he’s hunting them. BONUS STORY: Celtic Warrior and Wolf SpiritDerek and Brian are celebrating their first Christmas together, and Brian is determined to show Derek a Christmas like those he shared with his family back east. A wolf shifter, Derek has never celebrated a traditional Christmas before—his pack would usually shift on Yule and hunt down prey. But the unexpected appearance of Brian’s abusive ex-boyfriend on Christmas Eve threatens not only Brian’s holiday plans but his future with Derek.Second Editions with updated and revised text.