To Thomas's dismay, Barrington Hall is no longer the joyful home he remembers from his childhood, and his young niece has no idea what Christmas is.Determined to bring Christmas back to the gloomy estate, Thomas must confront his tyrannical father, salvage a brother lost in his own misery, and attempt to fight off his father’s machinations. As the holidays near, Thomas and Andrew begin to realize they are more than merely close friends... and those feelings are not only a threat to their social positions but, in Victorian England, to their lives as well.

    If we are meant to be together, we shall be.” It's 1897, and fresh from Oxford University, William Owens returns to Maryland to find his entire life planned for him. His law practice, his home, and his wife. Unable to stand up to his mother, William resigns himself to living the life she's chosen for him, until one day the Universe chooses a different path for him. Literally stumbling into his life, the blind writer, Theodore Renard, changes everything. Confronted with a life he desires, and the love of his life, William must find the courage to stand up to his mother and take his life into his own hands. But none of that comes without a price. Facing heartache and tragedy, William must learn to navigate through the chaos of time and the tide.

    Going from being a gentleman of few means to being a wealthy land owner in less than a day is difficult enough to imagine, but being blackmailed into a marriage he doesn't want by a Duke is just too much. Ned agrees to the marriage to keep his name out of the scandal sheets, and soon enough he is meeting Lady Jane, a member of the Duke's family, and her son, Henri, the Viscount Langton. Langton is a delightful surprise for Ned, a young man just coming into his own, ripe for the sorts of debauchery Ned is best at. The problem is that Langton brings out all of Ned's protective instincts, and that, along with a warning that the Duke will ruin him if he so much as lays a hand on the young man has him keeping his hands to himself. Until Henri won't let Ned protect him from himself, that is. Add one of Ned's old lovers to the mix and the combination is unbeatable. This Victorian romp has it all, from family intrigue to marriages of convenience and naughty fun between the sheets. Take it to bed with you today.

    With his best friend, Alayne, in tow, Jonathan returns to the estate to take possession, meet the current staff, and generally learn what it’s like to live as the landed gentry now. He’d only been there once before, fourteen years earlier. But that was a different time, he’s a different person now, determined to put that experience out of his mind and his heart….The locals agree that Jonathan is indeed different from the lost young man he was that long ago summer, when he arrived at the farm for a stay after his mother died. Back then the hot summer days were filled with sunshine, the nearby ocean, and a new friend, Nat. Jonathan and the farmhand had quickly grown close, Jonathan needing comfort in the wake of his grief, and Nat basking in the peace and love he didn’t have at home.But that was also a summer of rumors and strange happenings in the surrounding countryside, romantic triangles and wronged lovers. Tempers would flare like a summer lightning storm, and ebb just as quickly. By the summer’s end, one young man was dead, and another haunted for life.Now Jonathan is determined to start anew. Until he starts seeing the ghost of his former friend everywhere he looks. Until mementos of that summer idyll reappear. Until Alayne’s life is in danger. Until the town’s resident witch tells Jonathan that ghosts are real. And this one is tied to Jonathan unto death…

    Electricity is gone. Society is on its knees. The heart’s compass becomes the light in the darkness. Joshua has had enough of people. Especially those desperate, starving bastards who he’s certain ate his dog. When people decide to leave the university town of Lincoln, Nebraska and head south before winter sets in, Joshua heads north instead. When he lands face-first in a snowbank, he welcomes death. What he finds instead is the handsome smile of Chris, a lone goat farmer who’s trying to make the best of life without power. About the Heart's Compass series: Our heart has its own compass. It knows where we should be heading, even if the rest of us doesn't. Through loss and love, our heart’s compass guides us through life, often to somewhere completely unexpected. When the world ends, the heart’s compass of several people has them headed in directions they may have never traveled otherwise. Each book in the series is a stand-alone, novella-length story, but is written within the same fictional setting in which the Earth has just been struck with several massive solar flares. All modern technology has been rendered inoperable. Cars, computers, city infrastructure, phones – all gone in an instant and without warning. In the days directly following the end of the modern world, people must learn to depend on each other, and on their heart’s compass, if they hope to survive.

    Told in two parts, the first ‘The Journey Away’ is set in Melbourne and Sydney during the Australian Open tennis tournament where Lewis is competing as the only openly gay man in the sport. Eighteen months after claiming the Wimbledon title at the tender age of 21, Lewis’s life has spiralled out of control: his career in decline and his love life a mess. With the tennis establishment against him and the tabloids scenting blood, Lewis’s motivation is at an all time low. But two men are in Australia who will turn things around.Scott Taylor is an ex-champion who hides his bi-sexuality firmly in the closet, and was Lewis’s sporting hero as a lad. Now retired from the game, the American Idol is enlisted to help with the young Scotsman’s game, but his interest in Lewis goes way beyond tennis.Lee Porter is an entirely different prospect: a male model who is out loud and proud. The Body Perfect Englishman is a figure of internet fantasy for our naive young hero. Lee is also a top class schemer, whose agenda regarding Lewis is complex to say the least.Both will compete for Lewis’s affection as each in their way help him to deal with the adversities he faces. But can either live up to the ghost of his father – the perfect man in Lewis’s eyes, and the benchmark for everyone else?Note: ‘Naked Hero – The Journey Away’ was originally released as an experimental piece of work under the title ‘Man in the Box’ and is now offered as a rewritten polished novel.

    What he doesn’t expect is making a connection with Nathaniel Mayer, a contestant on the show and a dancer he’s got a major crush on.In creating a partnership that works, they must navigate the challenges of crazy schedules, fame and post-show commitments. Todd and Nate are determined to keep their run going long past the season finale.

    Mastering the seductive, deadly dance of the flames helps him save people and animals. He’s not afraid to put his muscular body and life on the line to do some good in the world. All that’s missing is someone special to share his life with. Freddie Masterson never dreamed that he’d wind up decorating cakes for a living. He was going to be a lawyer, or maybe a physical therapist. But when his daughter came along, unplanned and unexpected, Freddie stepped up to the plate, determined to give her the best life he could. With his marriage in tatters, Freddie moved back to his home town of Prescott to start again. When Freddie’s house burns down, taking all of the supplies he needs for his business with it, he doesn’t have time to panic. He has to hustle. But being asked out by the attractive fireman who saved his cat - if not the building - is too much to resist. The two men find a spark between them strong enough to burn down a thousand houses.  But Freddie can’t just pick up and go on with his life after he learns that his house was deliberately targeted by an arsonist. And the culprit? Much closer than anyone would have guessed. Will revealing the culprit quench the heat between them, or will the fire of justice drive the men apart for good? This is a full length MM romance novel, with plenty of heat, heart...and some very wise comments from a cheeky five year old!

    Patrick McCloud wake up married. A quickie divorce is the most obvious way out—unless you’re the heir of a staunchly Catholic mafia boss with a draconian position on the sanctity of marriage.Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Will and Patrick don't like it, or each other, but they have to make the best of it until they can find another way out of their marriage. To ensure the trust fund Will's charitable foundation relies on isn't revoked by his mobster grandfather, he and Patrick travel to Will’s hometown of Healing, South Dakota, posing as a newlywed couple in the throes of true love at first sight.Complicating their scheme are Will’s unresolved feelings for his all-too-recent ex-boyfriend Ryan, and Patrick’s desire to get back to the only thing that really matters to him in life: neurosurgery. Will they fool everyone? Or will the mafia get wind that their marriage is a fake? Throw their simmering attraction into the mix and all bets are off!Approx. word count: 34KEpisode 1 of 6 in the Wake Up Married serial.

    Originally home to Viscount Eldon Davenport, one of history's most controversial poets, the house was sold by Davenport's parents after he was found dead of a gunshot to the head, the pistol that killed him in his hand. Reclusive painter Cameron McKenzie is the latest owner of Lillyport, and he doesn't believe in ghosts, at least until he accidentally raises Eldon from the dead. Enter parapsychologist Malcolm and psychic Trudy, each with their own agendas. Malcolm wishes to sever the link between Cameron and Eldon, while Trudy is attempting to keep them together. Will she be able to unravel Lillyport's secrets or does the answer to Eldon's survival depend on Cameron, a painting, and a guilt-ridden 19th century stable boy?

    All words used to describe Dr. Micah Steinberg by the hospital staff for their next head of surgery. When a letter arrives from his grandmother’s friend at the assisted living facility, his orderly world tilts dangerously out of control. Josh Rosen had everything until it was revealed much of his world was a lie. Forced to re-evaluate his life, Josh gives up his career and returns home to New York City to care for his beloved grandmother. What Josh didn’t figure on was an attraction to a man who on the surface, appears to be exactly like the life Josh chose to leave behind.As Micah struggles with the reality of his grandmother’s illness, the bond these two share deepens, as Josh helps Micah heal, then open his heart. Micah discovers there is more to life than work, control and success. Josh is in deep but has yet to tell Micah who he really is.When the fight for the hospital’s head of surgery turns ugly, Josh’s past and present collide. Micah must let go of the past and accept who he is, if his life is going to move forward.Life is full of surprises, and as both Micah and Josh learn, love can happen whether you plan for it or not.

    An award-winning start on the Broadway stage led him to the silver screens of Hollywood, where his star began to rise, and his heart fell hard for professional baseball sensation, Manuel Guzman. But there was no script for living out loud with the man of his dreams in the world of 1964. Then Richard disappeared without a trace. Forty years later, Michael Spencer discovered a journal in his grandmother's attic that would change his life forever, and quite possibly, solve the mysterious disappearance of Richard Lewis Bancroft. Original Prompt:Dear Author,They met while vacationing on a tropical beach, can their summertime romance last?Photo Description: Two very muscular, tanned men are naked on the beach. One is lying down, his left knee bent, his head (to the right) in the lap of his lover. The dark-haired, kneeling lover is leaning over him, hands to either side of his shoulders, about to kiss him upside-down.Download the story, read it here or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 2 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition. __________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, family secrets, lies, angst, HEA, intolerance, sacrifice, romance, emotionalWord Count: 31,889

    This year, however, his grandson Blaine is pushing Nate through the Manhattan streets, revealing his secrets to his silent, stroke-stricken grandfather.When Blaine introduces his boyfriend to his beloved grandfather, he has no idea that Nate holds a similar secret. As they endure the chilly death of the old year, Nate is drawn back in memory to a much earlier time . . . and to Walter.Long before, in a peace carefully crafted in the heart of wartime tumult, Nate and Walter forged a loving home in the midst of violence and chaos. But nothing in war is permanent, and now all Nate has is memories of a man his family never knew existed. And a hope that he’ll finally hear the church bells that will unite everybody—including the lovers who hid the best and most sacred parts of their hearts.

    There, Ares demands that Achilleus yield to him. But can the embrace of a god and the offer of immortality make Achilleus forget his one true love, Patroklos?

    Gaidres has a plan: kill Caelius and end the lineage of the Roman family that enslaved him. For his plan to succeed, he must make a show of respect and obedience--even when called on to service his master's desires.Gaidres is shocked to learn that in the confines of his quarters, Caelius doesn't want to dominate his slave, but to be taken by him. The sex is explosive as they break society's taboos and, to Gaidres's dismay, they form a tenuous relationship. Even when Caelius learns of Gaidres's plans for revenge, he knows he can't live without his perfect lover. Is he willing to risk it all to tame his gladiator's heart?88,000 words