Then I was a hermit. For so long—for years that seemed to go on forever—I couldn't bear to be touched. I put up not just walls but whole stone bunkers to keep everyone out, emotionally, and physically as well. I was protected from people, from ghosts, from specters real and imagined. Sure, I was alone. But I felt safe. Only, after a while, I wasn't sure any longer whether a totally "safe" empty life was really worth living.Then Tobin came along. Out of the blue, out of my past, with a summons from the king that he wouldn't let me ignore. I tried to cling to my isolation, but he wouldn't give up on me. Tobin never believed in walls.This 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.http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

    Enchanted mechanical animals are all the rage among the upper classes, and selling them will save his struggling family business. Enter Jak, whose enchanting ability is second only to his talent for flirting. It’s dangerous to keep such a tempting man close, but Leander can’t resist—in more ways than one.Jak needs money to continue his aimless life of running. A partnership with Leander provides both income and a lovely diversion. Their masterful creations catch the attention of an eccentric baroness who offers them an enormous sum for an ambitious project—a full-scale mechanical dragon.Swept into a life rubbing elbows with nobility, Leander is pleased but overwhelmed. Spending both workdays and evenings with Jak, he finds himself drawing closer to the charming mage. But Jak is hiding a dangerous secret, and the truth could tear them apart.

    But as they investigate, they uncover more than a missing man: a legendary creature connected to the secret of the massacre of Rune's Court. In looking for Addam, can Rune find the truth behind his family's death and the torments of his past?

    His older sisters tend to mom him almost to death, and he finds his solace in working on cars, not really considering the future beyond the next project. He's happy enough with the status quo, and though a mate would be nice, he's not really looking. Enter a cutie with big brown eyes who keeps popping up wherever Riley goes, and Riley just might be in trouble. Quentin Quentin Williams is the 19-year-old son of paranormal enthusiasts who classify themselves as vampire hunters, were-wolf killers, and ghost chasers. As far as Quentin knows, they’ve never seen a single paranormal aside from him, and they don’t even know he is one. He constantly struggles to hide what he really is so he doesn't end up the subject of his own family's paranormal blogging. But he's got problems: he's never alone (they live in a motorhome), he’s spindly (if he actually met a were-wolf, he’d be toast), and he’s asthmatic (running through musty houses and damp woods is an issue). The fact that his family does everything in their power to make his life miserable certainly doesn't make things easier. A chance encounter on a full moon night, and both Riley's and Quentin's lives will change forever. That is, if they live long enough. Some unexpected revelations turn their worlds upside down, and the whole Susilauma clan will have to pull together to save Quentin and Riley's mating—and their lives. HEA with no cliff-hangers. Contains adult language, graphic descriptions of sex between males, brief instances of domestic abuse, and violence. The Susilauma Wolves stories feature the true mates trope, animal shifters, and man-on-man lovin'. If this isn't your cup of tea, don't spend your book allowance here. Does NOT contain knotting or MPREG.

    He was also not at all married to Oliver’s mother, a washerwoman, who died when Oliver was only six.”Oliver Meacham, bastard nephew of the Duke of Drakewell, and a massive disappointment to his father, has just lost all his male relatives to the war with the invading Sels from the West. Without an heir, the duchy of Drakewell stands to fall into enemy hands, unless one of Oliver’s cousins can marry a lord with an army strong enough to defend it – which is how he finds himself escorting his cousin Tessa to the Great Northern Wastes; to the kingdom of Aeretoll, with a hope that Tessa might wed the fearsome warrior king who rules there, Erik Frodeson, in order to protect her people.But the stern, forbidding Erik refuses to marry. He offers his nephew’s hand to Tessa instead. And to Oliver he offers insult, challenge – and the sorts of loaded glances that leave Oliver as flustered as he is furious.Tessa doesn’t relish the prospect of marrying for a political alliance, but she’s ready to fulfill her duty to her family and people – even more so when she realizes that she won’t have to wed the churlish Erik, but his charming nephew, instead. Only…the king has two nephews. And Tessa has a choice to make.The Drake Chronicles is a slow-burn fantasy series, full of court intrigue, adventure, drama, dragons, and passionate romance. Heavily influenced by Viking history and mythology, the series follows the intertwining stories of multiple couples as they fall in love, and fight to save their families, and their kingdoms.

    White wings. From a bitter war between races comes a rare chance at love... Anyar was a proud, black-winged warrior until he caught the attention of Vanyae, the white-winged enemy prince warring against his people. Vanyae ruthlessly takes Anyar prisoner, enslaving him and forcing him to submit in order to save Anyar's commander from harm. But freedom is not the only thing taken from him. His dark wings are clipped, leaving him longing for the skies and the joy of flight. He is Vanyae's slave...but the cruel master who now owns him slowly shows him another side. And Anyar begins to see there may yet be hope in the simple and powerful connection of love... Prince Vanyae feels no regrets for capturing and enslaving Anyar, whose dark wings and captivating looks are so different than his own white-winged people. After all, slavery is completely accepted among his people, and he is the victor. But Vanyae begins to realize Anyar is much more than a slave to him. Gentleness is difficult for the prince to master, but the feelings his black-winged slave stirs might be powerful enough to lead him down a new path, different from anything his people have ever known... Reader note: contains intense emotional elements, capture elements, and scenes of male male love. Reader discretion strongly advised.

    Spending his days and sometimes nights with his nose in a book has taught him magic and histories that few care to remember. He has a passion for dragons that pulls him to learn all he can about them, including their language. He is one of the last people left alive who can speak to the magnificent beasts. Conwyn D'Aver is squad leader of the Dragon Riders. He will do whatever it takes to protect the dragons and people he has given his oath to serve. Nothing is more important, and when Neela, his personal dragon, is attacked, Conwyn is out for blood. He vows to find the threat and defeat it. When an old spell book is found that gives a person the power to control all dragons, Conwyn will do anything he can to keep it from getting into the wrong hands, even if that means teaming up with the bookish Rillian to find a way to overcome the evil enemies who seek to gain the power. Together with the dragons, the two men must find a way to protect everything they both love, but while doing so, they risk losing their own hearts to each other. As their enemies seek to destroy them, they learn that sometimes it takes love and trust to defeat the things we fear the most.

    What should have been the worst moment of his life begins a journey shadowed by loneliness and pain. The night of a full moon, four years and seven foster homes later, Damien flees to the forest, desperate to escape everything. Instead, he finds the Salgado pack, and the earth beneath his feet shifts. Damien has seen the Salgado children in his school: Koko, who is in his class, and Hakan, two years older and infinitely unreachable. Damien is suddenly introduced into a world that had only ever existed in his imagination, where there is magic in the forest and the moon. He meets creatures that look like monsters, but Damien knows that monsters have the same face as anybody else. Over the years, Damien and Hakan grow closer. First, just as friends and foster brothers in the Salgado house, and then into something heated and breathless when Damien joins Hakan at college. Despite what he may yearn for in the darkest part of the night, Damien knows, deep down in that bruised and mealy part of his core, that he’s not good enough to be part of the Salgado family, their pack. He’s not worthy of calling Hakan his home. Even though he knows in the end it’ll hurt him, he’ll hold onto this for as long as he can. CONTENT WARNING: This book contains themes of emotional and (nonsexual) physical child abuse and the subsequent emotional, cognitive, and behavioural impacts. This story contains sexually explicit scenes between consenting adults and is meant for an adult audience.

     The last of a dying species, hiding amongst the humans, Jonah accepts his lonely life, knowing one day he’ll lose himself in the call of the sea. And then a pack of werewolves moves in next door. Wolves are dangerous, cunning, and vicious. He knows he has to chase them off before they discover the truth about what he is. But he hadn’t counted on Nate, their ruggedly handsome alpha. No one warned him wolves could be so… captivating. As the lone alpha left, he’s their only chance of survival. After an attack leaves his pack on the run, it’s up to Nate to lead them to safety. He brings them to the one place they won’t be followed, a place wolves don’t dare go. At first, the Cove seems like a haven and stories of monsters lurking in the shadows sound far-fetched. Jonah, the local vet, and their new neighbor, is just the sort of distraction Nate needs. When danger closes in on all sides, Nate must do what he can to keep his pack, and his new favorite human, safe from harm. But is Jonah all he appears to be? The truth will tear them apart. When Nate turns up at his door with an injured wolf cub in his arms, Jonah doesn't have the heart to turn him away. He knows he's playing with fire, letting himself be drawn further into the shifter's dangerous world, risking discovery with every word, every kiss. Self-preservation be damned. Forbidden is a novel-length read, featuring a flirtatious wolf, a lonely siren, an evil alpha, a loyal dog, mpreg (kind of), and scenes not suitable for readers under the age of eighteen.

    But a precious few begin even before birth.In the dual-gendered realm of Ylandre, the great divide between the high-born True Bloods and the lower-ranked Half Bloods is deemed impassable by most. Rohyr Essendri dared to cross it when he took young Lassen Idana from his provincial town and made him his paramour. Lassen perforce learned how to navigate the intricate byways of life at court. What he never expected, however, was to fall in love with Rohyr, a most inadvisable and impractical thing to do when one’s lover is sovereign ruler of the land. But anything worth having is worth fighting for, both figuratively and, as Lassen discovers, literally speaking.Contains hermaphroditism and explicit homoerotic sexual encounters.

    He’s young, sweet-natured and gorgeous, but that’s not enough to achieve escape velocity from his deadbeat village and rotten family life.He’s a drifter and a dreamer, and self-preservation isn’t his strong suit. An accidental overdose of a nightclub high leaves him fractured, hallucinating, too many vital circuits fried to function in a tough world. When a friend offers him winter work in a lighthouse – nothing to do but press the occasional button and keep the windows clean – he gratefully accepts.His plans to live quietly and stay out of trouble don’t last very long. A ferocious Atlantic storm washes a stranger to Priddy’s lonely shore. For a shipwrecked sailor, the new arrival seems very composed. He’s also handsome as hell, debonair, and completely unconcerned by Priddy’s dreadful past.Priddy has almost given up on the prospect of any kind of friendship, and a new boyfriend – let alone a six-foot beauty with eerily good swimming skills – out of the question entirely. But Merou seems to see undreamed-of promise in Priddy, and when they hit the water together, Priddy has to adapt to Merou’s potentials too, and fast. His lover from the sea might be a mere mortal from the waist up, but south of that line…Far-flung west Cornwall has a hundred mermaid tales. Priddy’s loved the stories all his life. Now he has to face up to a wildly impossible truth. Merou’s life depends upon his courage and strength, and if Priddy can only find his way in the extraordinary world opening up all around him, all the ocean and a human lifetime needn’t be enough to contain the love between merman and mortal.

    He only knows he has the power to heal people, making himself sick in the process. Exploited by a crooked faith healer who sells his abilities and his life to the highest bidder and then left for dead, Jory flees, falling into a job at a small-town café where he can put his lifelong obsession with baking to good use.But the minister who exploited him wants him back.Exiled hellhound-turned–bounty hunter Malpheus Pelle has no idea why his human client wants him to track down an incubus. Jory is traumatized and afraid to touch anyone, an emotional handicap that could prove fatal for a demon who requires physical contact. Needing answers, Mal concocts a disastrous plan: pretend to date Jory to uncover the truth. Unfortunately, his plan never included dealing with an ancient demon assassin, Jory’s orgasmic pumpkin cookies, or losing his heart to the incubus he’s supposed to be hunting….

    Outcasts. Alphas.Knox knows all the five of them have left now is each other. That, and the driving desire to find who had slaughtered their pack and make that person pay.But investigating a tragedy with only rubble as evidence requires money and time. Knox can find one and use it to buy the other. They may be the last remaining members of a once thriving pack, but they are no strangers to taking the types of jobs that would keep lesser men awake at night.Finding and returning some young punk to his rich, asshole father shouldn’t be all that difficult.Jazz Whitten lives as he likes, always. Since leaving home when he was young, he’s operated under a single rule, never stay where you aren’t wanted. Using his unique ability and the sleight of hand he’s perfected over the years, life as a fugitive isn’t that bad. It’s lonely at times, but freedom is more important than companionship.But when Jazz comes head to head with the latest team hired by his father, he forgets his own rule. He knows it is money, not affection that keeps the team on his tail. Their leader, Knox, is merciless and focused, but there’s something else about the man. It isn’t his kindness—Knox is a brute and unfortunately for Jazz, he’s smart too—but Knox radiates a type of pain that Jazz is all too familiar with.Jazz is as slippery as he is sexy and it takes every trick Knox has to catch up with him. But when he does, how will the stone-cold mercenary ever give him up?Hero is the first book in the Wolves of Royal Paynes series. It is an action-packed, swelteringly hot, mpreg romance that introduces a world of intrigue, mystery, and magic. For maximum enjoyment, this series should be read in order.Wolves of Royal Paynes is the second series in the Wolves of World. Though the series are connected, they may be read on their own for maximum enjoyment..

    He can't even tell Luca his name.He remembers nothing until the moment he sees Luca.The only hint Luca has to the stranger's identity is a tattoo on his wrist: N o XNox doesn't know who he is, but he's sure of three things, his memory loss is temporary, the monsters chasing Luca are called Anubis, and his Alpha, Koda, sent Nox to protect him.There's just one problem… Koda is Luca's brother who was murdered five years ago.With each passing hour, Nox fills in the pieces painting an impossible truth. And with each passing hour, both men find themselves unexplainably attracted to each other.Something Luca is willing to embrace because he has nothing left to lose.And one Nox can't let happen because it could get Luca killed.Nox is an HEA/HFN M/M paranormal, science-fiction romance.But be warned, these are NOT the shifters you are used to reading about.

    Even if he’s lonely and yearning for romance, the big, strong men he wants don’t crave small, timid princes.Then he’s forced to marry a mysterious barbarian.Jem must do his duty—even if it means being stuck with Cador, a brute who dismisses him as weak. Even if it means a fake marriage in name only for the sake of their homelands. Even if he must leave behind everything and everyone to journey to a forbidding island of ice and stone.Even if there’s only one bed.Alone with this wild—yet tender?—man, Jem discovers desire that burns hotter than he ever imagined. Can two strangers learn to trust, or will dangerous lies tear them apart?Wed to the Barbarian by Keira Andrews is a gay romance fantasy featuring enemies to lovers, an age gap, forced proximity, first times, and of course a happy ending (eventually). This is the first action-adventure romance in the Barbarian Duet and must be read before The Barbarian’s Vow.