So this is just a convenience thing, for both our sakes, and maybe I'll even learn to settle down and become less of a broken man.All thoughts of healing fade fast when I see him walk around without his shirt on. All I can think of is whether his skin is as smooth as it looks.But I'm straight. Fake marriage with a straight man? My life is a mess. I'm out of money. My business is failing. My love life is gathering dust. So when he offers to fix both our problems with a phony marriage, it seems the answer to both our prayers. It should shake things up, too.Yeah. It's shaking me up all right. Instead of high-fives, his tender touch melts my bitter heart, and releases a powerful need I learned long ago to ignore.But he's straight. When our lips meet, nothing feels fake any more. The Deal is a steamy, standalone gay for you, 35k word romance novella with a HEA ending and a fake marriage that refuses to believe it is anything but true love.

    The older girls - Katie and Miranda - are off at college, Evan is about to be promoted to captain and things are calm.Briefly.Evan accidently learns that Miranda has a new boyfriend and is talking marriage after just three months of dating. After peeling himself off the ceiling, he demands a conversation with his eldest daughter, which erupts into, as Matt calls it, “a steel cage match”.Miranda indeed has a boyfriend (Kent), a business major (from Connecticut) and they are most definitely serious. In fact, Miranda wants to bring him to Thanksgiving dinner - along with his parents, Blake and Cornelia.There is much debate but Evan agrees - mostly because Miranda's part of the bargain is that she won't get engaged or elope until the parents have met.Thanksgiving descends into madness before the turkey is cut.

    He spends a lot of time working late at night, eating and sleeping alone, and even more time meandering around his neighborhood staring into the darkened windows of shops. One night when he’s feeling really low, he wanders by a beautiful little bakery with the lights still on. The baker invites him in, and some time during that night Tristan realizes it’s the first time he’s really smiled in months. Henry Livingston has always been the odd duck, the black sheep, the baker in an old money family where pedigree is everything and quirky personalities are hidden behind dry martinis and thick upper east side townhouse facades. Henry is drawn to Tristan’s easy country charm, dry English wit, and everything that is so different from Henry’s world. Their new romance is all buttercream frosting and sugared violets until Tristan's need to fit in at work makes him do something he desperately wishes he could undo. Tristan has to prove to Henry that he can be trusted again before they can indulge in the sweet stuff they're both craving.

    Yeah, I knew that he was reluctant to make our partnership legal but I thought that he would eventually be as happy to be my husband as I was going to be his. Nick tried to warn me, though I didn’t listen. It’s funny how my best friend Nick seems to be right about a lot of things lately... like how I should go on the honeymoon that I spent forever planning even though Mark and I aren’t together anymore. Taking Nick with me so that the extra ticket wouldn’t go to waste was another great idea. Just wish I knew how we ended up in bed like this...Photo Description:Two men are in bed with an empty champagne bottle and two glasses.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.

    After a scandal, New York political reporter Reed Barfield is lying low at the North Carolina coast, writing a story about the seafood industry. But it’s the harbor pilots on the Cape Fear River who capture his interest—men who jump across ten feet of open ocean to grab a rope ladder and guide huge container ships into port. Men like sexy but prickly Justin Vance. After surviving an abusive childhood and a tour in the Navy, Justin isn’t fazed by his dangerous job—it’s certainly easier to face than Reed’s annoying questions. Justin isn’t out at work, and he doesn’t need Reed digging into his personal life or his past. But Reed’s no stranger to using his considerable charm to get what he wants, and as he wears Justin down, they realize they have a lot in common—and that they like spending time together. Moving beyond that, though, will mean Justin confessing his sexuality and learning to trust Reed with his secrets—if Reed even decides to stay. Both men want a future together, but can they find the courage to take the first step?

    The kid is reeling from his mother's death, and Dare wants to help. He wants to help Ryan out, too. Their chemistry is immediate, but Dare knows he cares for Ryan, too. Dare thinks they'll fit right into his quiet life, but he should know better than to think everything will go smoothly. Suddenly, Dare is involved in a violent domestic violence dispute, a life-threatening situation with a client, and terrible problems with an old employee. Add in a newspaper reporter who makes him headline news, and makes a big deal out of Dare being gay, and all of a sudden, Dare is the one who needs help. Can he and Ryan face all of their problems and make it through together?

    With his mother’s final days approaching, Jason returns to make peace with his mother and his past. Part of that past includes former best friend and lover, Danny Yarrow. Danny’s satisfied with his life as a drama teacher at the local high school, but the one thing missing is the love of a good man. He’s only too happy to be reunited with Jason. They’ve both grown and changed since their broken teenaged relationship. Jason hasn’t had an easy time of it since leaving Sutter’s Bay, but Danny intends to convince his friend and lover their love is worth taking chances.

    Empty, off-season flings are all he can look forward to until he retires. He figures his secret is safe—until he meets Ingram Fletcher, a nightclub owner who ignites a passionate inferno in his body.Gram has lusted after Kasey ever since the long, tall basketball player was traded to Phoenix a year ago. But with Kasey’s twin brother running interference, up until now Gram’s been unsure if it’s safe to make a play. Then some incidental contact in the crowded club leads to a kiss that starts Gram wondering if a relationship is possible—now, and beyond March Madness.A romantic weekend together answers that question. Now the only one remaining is if Kasey is ready make a fast break out of his comfort zone.

    So when a rumor surfaces that Granger's son Jonathan might be gay, Drew finds himself in the middle of a potential scandal. Under the guise of an interview about Jonathan's new job teaching in an inner-city school, Drew's job is to find out if the rumors are true. Drew's best friend Rey is also Jonathan's cousin, and he arranges the meeting between Jonathan and Drew that changes everything. After just one interview, it's obvious to Drew that the rumors are true, but he carefully neglects to mention that in his article. It's also obvious that he's falling for Jonathan, and he can't stay away after the article is published. Still, Jonathan is too afraid to step out of the closet, and Drew thinks the smartest thing might be to let him go-until Jonathan shows up drunk one night at his apartment. The slow burn of their attraction doesn't fade with Jonathan's buzz, but navigating a relationship is never easy-especially in the shadow of right-wing politics.

    As he goes about his daily life avoiding friends and relationships, he has no idea that someone has been watching him-someone who has decided that there is more to Jason than meets the eye.Kaden Jamieson is an investigative researcher with an excellent reputation, a talent for hacking into computers, and a client who has just asked him to find proof that her brother did not commit suicide. Now armed with suspicions that there may be a homophobic serial killer on the loose amid the ranks in the North Bay police precinct, Jamieson decides there is only one person who can help him-Detective Steele. But when Jamieson approaches Steele with the idea that they pretend to be boyfriends in an effort to lure the bloodthirsty culprit into their trap, he unwittingly opens a can of worms that causes hard-hearted Steele to question everything he has ever known or believed about himself.In this gripping thriller, a seasoned police detective must learn to trust a man he barely knows with his life in order to catch a determined killer on a deadly mission.

    He’s never forgotten that big, cuddly bear of a man and fondly recalls their ski resort romance. Now, he’s miserable in what was supposed to be his dream job and has no clue how to fix his situation. When Ethan gets a mysterious letter requesting his presence at the Falls, he can’t help but wonder if it’s the answer he’s been looking for. Theodore “Teddy” St. James lost his heart when Ethan walked away all those years ago and it still hurts to think about what might have been. Teddy is happy as a jack-of-all-trades at his family’s ski resort, but something is missing. Finding out Ethan is back in Christmas Tree Falls is all it takes for Teddy’s heart to start getting ideas about a second chance. Ethan and Teddy are older and wiser this time around, but is it enough? Will the magic of the Falls bring the men back together and give them a Christmas to remember? Or are the obstacles of a decade ago too much to overcome? **Listen to Your Heart is a steamy, second chance, M/M romance with just enough holiday magic to make you believe. It shares the same world with Follow Your Heart by Declan Rhodes.**

    Temptation. Hope. Depressed and at a crossroads following the death of his boyfriend, Drew Lawson dropped out of the cutthroat corporate world and started his own dog walking business. Pups and Leashes is off to a running start when Drew meets Kyle Bradley. Rich and successful, Kyle is everything Drew rejected after Steven's death. But suddenly saddled with his five-year old nephew as well as a rambunctious new puppy, Kyle is floundering. And Drew can't resist coming to the rescue. Before long, friendship turns to passion, but Drew is still guilty over Steven's death and afraid to embark on a relationship with someone who comes from the shallow world he rejected and left behind. Illustrator: K.B. SmithEditor: Keren Reed

     Officer Noel Carlson isn’t out to anyone in small-town Stratton, Pennsylvania, only to distant friends and family, so a relationship is out of the question. That doesn’t stop him from wanting one, though. When a night-shift call brings him face to thonged butt with a hired stripper whose girl-party gig went terribly wrong, Noel takes pity on the guy and lets him go. But he can’t get the encounter out of his mind. Shane has big-time debts to repay, especially to the brother who sacrificed nearly everything for him. His two jobs, in a deli and as a stripper, leave him no time for a social life. But a non-date of hot sex and takeout food with Noel? He can squeeze that in. The bond they form is stronger than either expected or wanted. Especially since the step Shane’s about to take to put his brother—and his soul—back in the black isn’t quite legal. And he never calculated just how much his determination to make things right will cost him in the end. Note: This book was previously published by Samhain Publishing. No significant changes have been made to the text. Please read with tissues handy.

    Can one club owner make it easier to uphold his priorities and maybe add him to the list? Jason Monroe had to leave school to be the guardian of his sister Kitty when his dad and step-mom die in a car crash. He's working two jobs to keep them afloat, but their boat is leaking much like the roof of their old house. Jason doesn't have time for love that is until Zach Montgomery, the owner of the Sunset Club, the premier gay club on the Jersey Shore comes calling.

    It's not any kind of life for a child, and when Jerry finds out he’s been named his orphaned nephew’s guardian, he panics. He doesn't know what to do with a child and isn't sure he can give William the affection and the love the boy so desperately needs.Then Jerry meets David Loewenberger, the new teacher William becomes immediately attached to, and he starts to see how they could make a family together: a family to replace the one William lost, a family David had given up on ever finding... a family Jerry never knew he wanted.