A Marvellous Light


Freya Marske - 2021
    Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies. Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

Purgatory: A Novel of the Civil War


Jeff Mann - 2012
    One is a war-weary but scholarly Southerner who has seen too much bloodshed, especially the tortures inflicted upon the enemy by his vicious commanding officer, his uncle. The other is a Herculean Yankee captured by the rag-tag Confederate band and forced to become a martyr for all the sins of General Sheridan's fires. When these two find themselves admiring more than one another's spirit and demeanor, when passions erupt between captor and captive, will this new romance survive the arduous trek to Purgatory Mountain?

Bliss


Lisa Henry - 2014
    Like every other kid born in the neighboring country of Tophet, he’s heard the stories: No crime or pollution. A house and food for everyone. It’s perfect, and Rory is finally getting a piece of it.So is Tate Patterson. He’s from Tophet, too, but he’s not a legal immigrant; he snuck in as a thief. A city without crime seems like an easy score, until he crashes into Rory during a getaway and is arrested for assaulting a citizen. Instead of jail, Tate is enrolled in Beulah’s Rehabilitation through Restitution program. By living with and serving his victim for seven years, Tate will learn the human face of his crimes.If it seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. Tate is fitted with a behavior-modifying chip that leaves him unable to disobey orders—any orders, no matter how dehumanizing. Worse, the chip prevents him from telling Rory, the one man in all of Beulah who might care about him, the truth: in a country without prisons, Tate is locked inside his own mind.

A Mage's Guide to Human Familiars


A.J. Sherwood - 2021
    One mage, Bel Adams – needs a familiar, gun shy about being rejected by one again.One familiar, Nico di Rossi – Army Ranger, needs a change of pace and a new purpose in life.Plus one familiar, Garen Dallarosa – Secret Service, needs his ex-lover Nico back.One second chance – all for the taking.Tags:Mages, BOGO familiar, familiars as bodyguards, familiar bond, M/M/M, second chances, workplace romance, fated mates, magical shenanigans, Garen is part gargoyle, Bel part demon, Nico is a golden retriever in human form (though not literally), idiots in love, seriously I don't know what to do with them, Bel loves Garen just because he wants to love him, possessive behavior, not a single degree of chill from any of them, Nico is not allowed caffeine, Nico loves swords, Wicky is his supplier, lightsaber sounds, competency kink, Garen cannot be moved, he moves when he wants to, evil cults strangely don't clean up after themselves, absolutely no one's surprised, Nico thinks a magically booby-trapped cave is a theme park, cuz he cray cray, Demon Grandpa is also cray cray and approves

An Unusual Courtship


Katherine Marlowe - 2015
    Swiftly befriending the fashionable trio of Londoners, Percival sets out to court the elegant Miss Bolton, but soon comes to realise that he is being courted instead by the charming but secretive Mr. Everett. As Percival begins to uncover the circumstances behind his new friends’ arrival in Linston, he is drawn inextricably closer to Mr. Everett and his secrets.

Lacuna


N.R. Walker - 2020
    A girlchild enveloped in red, marked with the three lines of the desert winds. A boy bundled in white, the koi mark on his wrist as defined as his shock of red hair. And a boychild wrapped in black, a raven his mark to serve his fate.~ ~ ~Twenty-five years ago, the hand of fate marked four newborns and sent them to the four corners of the Great Kingdoms. They were schooled and trained as rulers of their lands in preparation for the Golden Eclipse ceremony: a festival to celebrate a thousand years of peace and prosperity since the Great War.Crow, ruler of Northlands, a skilled swordsman and expert tactician, is as reclusive and stoic as the mountains that surround him.Tancho has spent his life in strict discipline, governing the Westlands with a fair mind and gentle hand. Quiet and unassuming, yet lethal in combat, he is the embodiment of the waters he lives by.Yet the same hand of fate unknowingly linked Tancho to Crow in ways they cannot comprehend. Ruled by the stars, the brother sun and the two sister moons above them, and marked by an alchemical sorcery as old as time, their destinies were never their own.As the eclipse draws near and the festival begins, word comes of another threat. Invaders from unknown lands bring a war no one was prepared for, and Crow and Tancho must decide on which side of the battle line they stand.In life or death, their destinies will see them joined either way.

Exile


Aleksandr Voinov - 2017
    With Kyle’s transformation underway, they’re heading toward alien space so Kyle can meet “the family” and work out just what being a human-alien hybrid will mean. He certainly doesn’t have access to any of the promised Glyrinny powers yet.On the way, however, they encounter a group of refugees who fled their home planet, Tamene, when the Doctrine moved in. A militaristic, collectivist power bloc, the Doctrine has been swallowing up planets and peoples in its mission to unite all of humanity in its own concept of “brotherhood.” Kyle finds it impossible to ignore that the Doctrine is about to destroy the culture of his home planet.But when they arrive on Tamene, the Doctrine officer in charge, Arkady Kidashell, is nothing like the “Doctrine zombies” of lore. A recent convert himself, Arkady gambles for nothing less than reform and peace, and Kyle and Grimm may be about to ruin his best-laid plans and intentions …Exile is the sequel to Incursion and set in the Doctrine Wars universe.

Lord of Eternal Night


Ben Alderson - 2021
    Jak, a boy born with power that the witches have not seen in a century, is their prophesied saviour. The one who is to kill the creature, break the curse and restore magic to his coven.Sent to the creature’s castle as the final Claim, Jak must get close enough to land the final blow. It is what he has trained all his life to accomplish.Not all is as it seems when Jak uncovers secrets and half-truths. The creature is not the haunting beast he had been brought up to hate. Emotions war as new feelings are uncovered. For what is more dangerous than hate? Lust.Lord of Eternal Night is a complete, M/M *stand-alone novel*, inspired by Beauty and the Beast… with added bite.

Here's to You, Zeb Pike


Johanna Parkhurst - 2012
    It isn't long before social services figures out that Dusty's parents are more myth than reality, and he and his siblings are shipped off to live in Vermont with an uncle and aunt they've never met.Dusty's new life is a struggle. His brother and sister don't seem to need him anymore, and he can't stand his aunt and uncle. At school, one hockey player develops a personal vendetta against him, while Emmitt, another hockey player, is making it hard for Dusty to keep pretending he's straight. Problem is, he's pretty sure Emmitt’s not gay. Then, just when Dusty thinks things can't get any worse, his mother reappears, looking for a second chance to be a part of his life.Somehow Zebulon Pike still got the mountain named after him, so Dusty's determined to persevere—but at what point in life do you keep climbing, and when do you give up and turn back?

Brothers of the Wild North Sea


Harper Fox - 2013
    He loves his life of learning as a monk in the far-flung stronghold of Fara, but the hot warrior blood of his chieftain father flows in his veins. Heat soothed only in the arms of his sweet-natured friend and lover, Leof.When Leof is killed during a Viking raid, Cai’s grieving heart thirsts for vengeance—and he has his chance with Fenrir, a wounded young Viking warrior left for dead. But instead of reaching for a weapon, Cai finds himself defying his abbot’s orders and using his healing skills to save Fen’s life.At first, Fen repays Cai’s kindness by attacking every Christian within reach. But as time passes, Cai’s persistent goodness touches his heart. And Cai, who had thought he would never love again, feels the stirring of a profound new attraction.Yet old loyalties call Fen back to his tribe and a relentless quest to find the ancient secret of Fara—a powerful talisman that could render the Vikings indestructible, and tear the two lovers’ bonds beyond healing. Warning: contains battles, bloodshed, explicit M/M sex, and the proper Latin term for what lies beneath those cassocks.

Song of Oestend


Marie Sexton - 2011
    Aren's never had reason to believe the stories, but when he takes a job as a bookkeeper on the BarChi, a dusty cattle ranch on the remote Oestend prairie, he soon learns that the wraiths are real. Aren suddenly finds himself living in a supposedly haunted house and depending on wards and generators to protect him from unseen things in the night. As if that's not enough, he has to deal with a crotchety old blind woman, face "cows" that look like nothing he's ever seen before, and try to ignore the fact that he's apparently the most eligible bachelor around.Aren also finds himself the one and only confidante of Deacon, the BarChi's burly foreman. Deacon runs the BarChi with an iron fist and is obviously relieved to finally have somebody he can talk to. As their relationship grows, Aren learns there's more to Deacon and the BarChi than he'd anticipated. Deacon seems determined to deny both his Oestend heritage and any claim he may have to the BarChi ranch, but if Aren is to survive the perils of Oestend, he'll have to convince Deacon to stop running from the past and finally claim everything that's his. Reader Advisory: This book is set in an alternate reality and contains scenes of violence, mild D/s and bondage, and a M/M/M ménage scene.

Apple Boy


Isobel Starling - 2019
    He needs to travel to the city of Serein and impart grave news that will bring war to the Empire, but without a horse, money, and with not a soul willing to help him, he has no choice but to line up with the common folk seeking paid work on the harvest. As wagons roll into the market square and farmers choose day laborers, Winter is singled out for abuse by a brute of a farmer. The only man who stands up for him is the farmer's beguiling son, Adam, and on locking eyes with the swarthy young man Winter feels the immediate spark of attraction.Winter soon realizes there is a reason he has been drawn to Blackdown Farm. The farmer possesses a precious item that was stolen long ago from Winter’s family, and he determines to retrieve it. He also cannot take his eyes off the farmer's son, and as the young man opens up Winter can’t help wondering if Adam is just kind or his kind!

Dear Mona Lisa...


Claire Davis - 2017
    In five days time a lifelong ‘secret’ will be made gloriously public—but will it mean losing the person he loves most?Getting married…It seems like only yesterday Tom changed nappies and sang nursery rhymes to a laughing baby. He relishes the demands of being a daddy; especially teaching his little girl to draw and paint as she grows up.But the years tick by and times change. Long-buried secrets must come to the surface which may test even the strongest ties.Tom and Lawrence…He writes a list of all the things he has to do before the weekend and sticks it in the middle of his wall. The names and goals hang like threads of a spider’s web, inevitably leading to the centre, and all to the same place.Dear Mona Lisa…How to explain?Each morning he notes the colours of dawn, listens to the birds and waits for the perfect moment. In one hand rests the balance of life and a terrible responsibility, in the other a wedding ring. Difficult days and the past loom, but his friends rally round and one by one the words come to life.Everyone waits as Tom finds the strength to open up and set free the secrets of his heart in a celebration of family, friendship and love.A quirky story of modern life, set within the breathtaking landscape of Bradford.

Clockwork Heart


Heidi Cullinan - 2016
    But when he saves an enemy soldier using clockwork parts, he’s well aware he risks hanging for treason. That doesn’t worry him half as much, however, as the realization he’s falling for his patient.Johann Berger never expected to survive his regiment’s suicide attack on Calais, much less wake up with mechanical parts. To avoid discovery, he’s forced to hide in plain sight as Cornelius’s lover—a role Johann finds himself taking to surprisingly well.When a threat is made on Cornelius’s life, Johann learns the secret of the device implanted in his chest—a mythical weapon both warring countries would kill to obtain. Caught up in a political frenzy, in league with pirates, dodging rogue spies, mobsters and princesses with deadly parasols, Cornelius and Johann have no time to contemplate how they ended up in this mess. All they know is, the only way out is together—or not at all.Warning: Contains tinkers, excessive clockwork appendages, and a cloud-sweeping tour of Europe. A little absinthe, a little theft, a little exhibitionism. Men who love men, women who love women, and some who aren’t particular.

Shadows on the Heart


N.J. Nielsen - 2011
    Andreas is fleeing from a man he doesn’t want only time wind up not in a different city but a different time itself. A time which he knows nothing about, except for what he has read in history books.Born of royalty and living the life of a slave, Leif finds himself drawn to the enigmatic stranger who is capture by the village. Deep down he knows he belongs to Andreas, even as his heart loves another.Rurik rules the village with a strong hand yet even he has secrets the other don’t know about. Fate throws him together with the captive and the slave and they must join together if they are too all come out of this alive.Original Prompt:Dear Author,Please tell me the story of this handsome Norseman.He went out viking and came back to this scene in his village!Who is this sexy stranger and what is happening?Photo Description: Two pictures, two men. One stares out with icy blue eyes from behind a Viking helm, his nose and cheeks covered by the metal guards, his reddish beard and long hair escaping. The other is a prisoner, collared and chained, dark haired and stubbled. Swirling tattoos mark the pale skin of his naked chest and arms.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Hot Summer Days" 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.Read the story here or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 2.__________Genre: paranormal, ménage, mild bondageTags: gay m/m, Viking, time travel, vampire, mmm romance, bad spellsWord Count: 15,752