They were only teens, and despite many obstacles, they fell in love. But young loves drift apart.Hugo hasn’t been in love since. Dating is a chore, his drag queen persona and acting gigs are always an issue, so he’s just done with men . . . until he runs into Kevin at the lake.Years after their last kiss, the spark is still strong, but life is complex. Kevin lives in the shadow of divorce and is navigating single fatherhood. Plus no one knows he’s bisexual.Rekindling their romance is easy away from the demands of the city, but what about when real life kicks in?Does their love stand a chance this second time around?Spark is book one in the North Star Trilogy, a love story that spans twenty years. Friendship, single fatherhood, family life, angst, hurt/comfort, past abuse themes, medical caregiving, as well as life’s celebrations and challenges are found in this novel. Family is central to this saga that will stick with you long after you finish the series.

    The last thing he expects is for his friend’s roommate to be the one guy he despises the most. The same guy who stomped on his heart senior year of high school. And by the looks of the girl on his arm, the same man who’s still deep inside the closet. Nicholas Dell never predicted that eleven years later, one of his greatest regrets would show up on his doorstep down on his luck. Nick has made some terrible mistakes—story of his life—and he’s been paying for them ever since. And if the guilt and shame aren’t enough, his first crush had to turn into one of the sexiest men he’s ever laid eyes on. Nick and Brin have weeks to steer clear of each other. Weeks to avoid strangling each other. But when stubbornness leads to skyrocketing sexual tension, hate-sex doesn’t seem like such an awful way to work through their frustration. Except hate is a powerful emotion, especially when it’s turned inward. And in Nick’s case he’s been drowning in a sea of self-loathing for so long, he can’t see his way out. As Brin reconnects with Nick, his perception of what really happened in their past begins to change. He’s finally ready to forgive him and take a second chance on the one guy who stirs him like no other. But Nick’s demons are complicated, heart-wrenching…demanding. So devastating, he might never allow himself true happiness—even with the one man who’s always owned his heart.

    After a five-year prison term that alters every aspect of his life, he receives a bequest from his aunt with the stipulation that he use the money to make things right. Breaking free of the long-standing role he’s played and inspired by the few who support him, he decides to create a safe place where people like him can find purpose and start a new life.Julian Capeletti likes challenges. He is confident, brash, stubborn, and just what Matt needs. Desperate for work after a downturn of luck, he accepts the job to renovate Matt’s crumbling building.Over the course of a year, romance simmers between them as they restore the house. But there’s a bigger renovation that must take place in their hearts. To become better men, they need to learn to trust each other even with secrets and painful memories they fear may rip them apart. ----------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: 2nd edition is revised and expanded.

     Until I met the one boy who changed all that. When we were kids, Xavier Price understood horses, but somehow, he got me too. He’d made me feel like I wasn’t just the overdressed, too sensitive fifteen-year-old geek who loved math and didn’t always say the right thing. But all that changed the night he threw my trust back in my face and betrayed my family in the worst kind of way. And while I’m back in Eden to make sure my uncle’s horse ranch is operating in the black, the one thing I know I won’t have to deal with is the man who’d been on the verge of stealing my heart ten years ago. Because Xavier Price is still in prison for what he did and even if he weren’t, he wouldn’t be foolish enough to show his face in Eden ever again. Right? Xavier Wrong. That’s what returning to Eden after ten years behind bars feels like. But it wasn’t like I had a whole lot of choices. And it wasn’t like I was going to be handed any decent job offers, let alone my dream one of working with horses. But that’s exactly what happened and now that I’m foreman of Black Hills Ranch, I’m not letting this job go for anything. Not even the spoiled little rich kid I’d thought was different when he’d glommed onto me ten years ago. I have no doubt Brooks Cunningham didn’t wait long to move on to bigger and better things the second my jail cell was locked behind me, and that’s just fine by me. I’d been wrong about the sweet, emotional boy who’d had a habit of wearing his heart on his sleeve anyway. Except fate has decided to have another go at me by tossing Brooks right back into my sometimes too small world. Gone is the scrawny, stars-in-his-eyes nerd who used to do math problems just for fun. In his place is a gorgeous specimen of a man who thinks he can go toe to toe with me and once again destroy everything I’ve worked for. Not happening.

    Born to a Mennonite family, he obeyed his father and took over the family farm, married, and had two children. Now with both his kids in college and his wife deceased, he runs his farm alone and without joy, counting off the days of a life half-lived.Christie Landon, graphic designer, Manhattanite, and fierce gay party boy, needs a change. Now thirty, he figures it's time to grow up and think about his future. When his best friend overdoses, Christie resolves to take a break from the city. He heads to a small house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to rest, recoup, and reflect.But life in the country is boring despite glimpses of the hunky silver fox next door. When Christie's creativity latches on to cooking, he decides to approach his widower neighbor with a plan to share meals and grocery expenses. David agrees, and soon the odd couple finds they really enjoy spending time together.Christie challenges the boundaries of David's closed world and brings out feelings he buried long ago. If he can break free of the past, he might find a second chance at happiness.

    However, interference after the play has him hiding his past and burying his future in the bottom of a bottle. While Colt seems to have it all, looks can be deceiving especially when you're trapped so far in a closet that you can't see your way out. When ten years of living his expected fast-lane lifestyle lands him engaged to his manipulative Russian supermodel girlfriend, he decides it's time to call a new play. Jace Montgomery single-handedly built the largest all-star cheerleading gym in the world, driven by a need to forget a life-altering encounter with a handsome quarterback a decade ago. His reputation as an excellent coach, hard-nosed business man, and savvy entrepreneur earned him respect in the sometimes catty world of competitive cheerleading. When Jace learns of his ex-lover's plans to marry, his heart executes a barrel roll and his carefully placed resolve tumbles down without a mat to absorb the shock. Can his island escape help him to finally let go of the past and move his life forward?

    Billy gains Darryl's respect with his earnest nature and willingness to work hard, but Billy's admiring looks resurrect pain and shame from Darryl’s past.Until Darryl stumbles across Billy's secret, Billy is suffering in silence: his father died a few months earlier, leaving him struggling to raise his twin five-year-old brothers. Darryl takes Billy and the boys to the restaurant, where they’ll stand together to face the smorgasbord of troubles in their future… while Davey, Donnie, and Billy all worm their way into Darryl’s heart.

    Brady Novak was kind, responsible and easy on the eyes. Yeah, the guy had a kid but Ryan loved her too. What could go wrong? Well, Ryan's sister Ellie, that's what. Ellie is a flighty, love-em-and-leave-em kinda girl with a big heart who doesn't realize she dated the guy Ryan had fantasized about. But, like all of Ellie's other relationships, this one ended within two months, just in time to send Brady running off to take a job in Phoenix, taking Ryan's heart with him.Ryan never thought he'd see Brady again until eight years later Ryan's sister blindsides him by announcing that not only is Brady back in Atlanta but she'd asked him out on a date. And he'd accepted. As if that wasn't enough to send Ryan on a tailspin, a neighborhood girl brings him face to face with Brady in an unexpected way.Brady can't believe when he sees Ryan again. He assumed Ryan had moved on from Atlanta, like he'd always said he would. But Brady hasn't forgotten his cute, nerdy friend and wants nothing more than to have a chance to try the relationship they never got to have all those years ago, but convincing Ryan that he hadn't slept with Ellie proves difficult. Ryan is still hurt over the way they left things and makes it an uphill battle, but Brady has waited too long. He'll damn well give a good go of trying to get his man and with the help of his precocious teenage daughter and a little help from friends they may just get their Happily Ever After. *2nd Edition, has been re-edited and revised*

    But when I needed him the most, that was exactly what he did…Wilderness guide Xander Reed has spent fifteen years trying to forget the night he turned to his best friend in his darkest hour, only to find the young man who’d sworn to always have his back was turning his on Xander instead. Two thousand miles and fifteen years of building a new life in the quiet backcountry of the Rocky Mountains should have been enough to put the memory of Bennett Crawford out of his mind forever, but old wounds run deep and when Bennett suddenly reappears in his life as part of a wilderness expedition Xander is guiding, the scars he thought long healed break wide open.I’d only ever wanted to protect Xander from getting hurt again. I never considered the one he needed protection from was me…Bennett Crawford was faced with an impossible choice the night his best friend needed him.He chose wrong.As the only son of one of the wealthiest families in New England, he should have had the world at his feet, but losing his best friend at the tender age of fourteen changed everything. And even though Bennett’s managed to hide behind a mask of contentment as he takes his place at his father’s side in the family business, inside he’s searching for the piece of himself that’s been missing ever since Xander Reed walked out of his life. Bennett’s only saving grace is his work with a group of inner city kids, and when he’s given the chance to show the troubled teens that there’s a bigger world out there waiting for them if they just have the courage to reach for it, he takes it.But when he steps off that bus for what was supposed to be a week of fun and adventure, he’s instantly returned to the past when he discovers their expedition guide is none other than the boy he let go so long ago. Only, the soft-hearted, insecure little boy Bennett once knew is gone, and in his place is a brooding, bitter man who isn’t interested in second chances.People leave. I know that now and nothing Bennett has to say to me will change anything…All Bennett wants is another chance to show Xander that friendship was only the beginning. But when a stubborn Xander refuses to even hear him out, Bennett realizes he’s going to need to fight dirty.Because now that he’s found Xander again, he’s not letting him go a second time…

    Dante was kissing someone else and claimed to be in love. So Noah took his heartbreak-and the sonogram pictures of their surrogate child-and closed the door on the big picture of what he thought his life would be, focusing instead on the piece of the dream he got to keep, being a father. Now on vacation in Las Vegas, Noah accidentally runs into the Cerreto family, and then the man himself, and learns that not only was he deceived, but Dante was as well. Now Dante wants to make up for lost time, six years' worth, and to do that he needs Noah, the only man he's ever loved, and Grace, the daughter he didn't know he had, to give him a chance at happiness. Dante's going to have to take a crash course in communication and seduction, though. Noah's not going to fall in love just to be broken again.

    Leo Mancini was the son of a judge. Roman Cipriani the son of a criminal. So different, yet as they shared stolen kisses and secret moments, they fell in love. One day they would run away together, have the future they deserved, because no one loved Leo like Roman did, or Roman like Leo did. But before they could make their dreams come true, their future was viciously stolen and their lives changed forever. Roman has spent the last twelve years repressing the trauma in his past, trying to pretend it didn't exist, until even he believed his own lies. Leo won't let himself forget what happened because he doesn't ever want to be that person again. He won't become the man his father wanted him to be or the guy who gets hurt when he lets someone in. But in that split second when their eyes meet again, everything changes. Despite Leo's anger and Roman's denial, the connection they shared as teens is still there, too powerful to deny. Now, when their moments don't have to be stolen, they cling to what they've always craved--each other. Roman and Leo aren't kids anymore, though--they can't lock themselves away from the world and pretend nothing exists but each other. A trauma like Roman suffered doesn't just go away, but now that Roman accepts his truth, can the two of them escape their demons before they destroy Roman and Leo a second time? Possible triggers: violence and homophobia

    This version offered for free by the authors. It can be downloaded here:Rock and a Hard PlaceDetermined to outdo each other, business rivals Sean and Andrew land themselves in hot water when their private feud spills over at a very public charity auction.With neither willing to back down over the dream vacation at stake, they're told by their boss that they're both going and that they're to return as friends.As fate would have it, their plane crashes and they wash up on a desert island where their feud is as likely to doom them as the lack of food and their inability to start a fire. But there's enough heat between them to set sparks flying once out and proud Sean discovers that Andrew's gay, but determined to remain in the closet.Rescue comes, but brings with it new challenges. They're whisked back to their old lives with secrets to keep and a shared passion that makes it impossible for them to stay apart for long.Choices must be made, new paths taken, and two men who have always been good at fighting find themselves, finally, with something worth fighting for: each other.

    After the death of his guide dog and best friend, Rosie, his partnership with his new guide dog, Brady, isn't going well.Carter tries to help both man and canine through this initiation phase, but just who is leading who?

    Now jaded and broken, Alex and Matt still can’t deny their sizzling connection or the memories of one perfect, uninhibited year together. At twenty-two, Matt Tarrington is rich, good-looking and destined to be powerful, but behind that confident exterior lurks a man who resents the life his family thrust upon him. Desperate for an escape, Matt heads to Mirabella Island off the coast of Florida for a year of relaxation and some wild nights with vacationing party-girls. Matt never expected to find real passion in the arms of Alex Hunter, a handsome, laid-back local. Alex is gay, but closeted. Matt should be completely off limits, but Alex finds the deeply in denial rich boy too tempting to ignore. Especially when a bet has them working together, fighting the heat in the rundown, beachside cafe where Alex sweats for every dollar. Their love felt inevitable until youth left them vulnerable to hatred and greed. Now after six years of hating the lies they live, Alex and Matt will have to risk it all for the second chance they both desperately need.

    Now the pressure’s on. He needs a coach who can keep him in line, but top coaches don't come cheap, and Matty can't afford to stay in the game no matter how badly he wants to win.When a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to rural Montana, Matty does his best to maintain his training regimen. Local residents turn out to be surprisingly tolerant of his flamboyant style, especially handsome young rancher Rob Lovely, who proves to be much more than a cowboy stereotype. Just as Matty requires a firm hand to perform his best on the ice, Rob shows him how strong he can be when he relinquishes control in the bedroom. With new-found self-assurance, he drives himself harder to go straight to the top.But competition has a timetable, and to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to join his new coach in New York City, leaving Rob behind. Now he must face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned how to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?