Nick’s Naughty list. Lachlan is sure Haven is just like the spoiled rich boy who broke his heart and ruined his life a year earlier. But after watching Haven help the less fortunate, Lachlan longs to offer him shelter on a lonely Christmas Eve. Maybe this year, he’ll actually get his Christmas wish.

    What he doesn't have is someone to share it with. Berg Pedersen is out of the Army and out of the closet, and he's traveled clear across the country to spend the holidays with a former lover - until the guy's wife answers the door. Now he's stranded on Christmas Eve with no idea what to do next.Then DJ comes home and finds Berg outside his duplex, looking lost. One look into pale blue blue eyes, and DJ is curious enough to offer the guy a warm place to wait while he calls a cab, and then, on impulse, offers to make him dinner. Berg isn't sure why the tall cop seems to be into him, but he's not going to argue. After all, it's Christmas Eve, and miracles do happen.

    When Joel uneasily leaves Ian for the holidays, he ends up telling stories to his sister and discovers he feels much more for Ian than he thought. So when Ian calls, distraught because the only other thing in his life that loves him (a half-feral cat named Manky Bastard) is going to have to be put down, Joel hurries back home hoping that opposites really do attract.

    Carver may be part of the art world, but he gets Peter, loves belonging to the man, and Peter treasures the way Carver understands them together.Carver loves Peter, but he's fully aware that six months doth not a commitment make. Carver wants to make the relationship last forever, but he’ll have to leave their life in Chicago to take care of the family he loves. He wants to do it with Peter by his side, but going from the city of Chicago to tiny Colt, Kentucky is a big change.Carver has only one Christmas wish: Please, oh please, let Peter fall enough in love with Carver's family to follow Carver home.

    Stepping back out into the bustling Christmas Market outside the cathedral brings back memories of the boy he met here every Christmas, his best friend and first crush Callum. When their paths cross again, can Jonah and Callum mend their fractured friendship and fall in love again as adults? Gaudete was previously published in 2013.

    His only solace is that Philip will soon arrive. He’s worried introducing Philip as his boyfriend rather than his roommate could put a damper on the holiday season, but his dad drops a bigger bomb: the family home will be sold. Derailed from coming out, Cal makes it his mission to squeeze every ounce out of his last holiday in his childhood home. But there’s no way to disguise his love for Philip. This holiday season is one of endings, but can it be the start of something even better?

    Aidan has treasured every gift: in a world of impersonal relationships, they’re the one reminder he has that somebody out there cares about him for who he really is. Then through a twist of fate, their relationship goes beyond personal and into intimate, leaving Aidan shocked and set to run the other way. Despite his feelings for Mal, past experiences have convinced Aidan that he's a failure at relationships, and he's afraid to trust his heart. It just might take a Christmas miracle for Aidan to find the courage to love.

    fired, dumped, and befuddled about the future? Ben Richmond is not having a holly-jolly Christmas. In fact, life has been a wash since a knee injury ended his dream of a baseball career. He's so desperate that when he spies an ad for nude male models, he jumps at it, hoping he can pull off a grand gesture to win back his boyfriend. The only hitch? Photographer Gavin McNally. He’s demanding, seductive, and wears a pair of tight-fitting black pants like nobody’s business. Ben hasn’t been this attracted to someone in a long time, but is he really ready to call it quits with the ex?

    No longer filling out his Santa suit or allowed to make merry, he's forgoing the holidays this year and heading to Vegas to indulge in the few vices left to him: gambling and anonymous sex.His road trip takes a detour when he encounters Chandler Tracey, who's just inherited guardianship of his five-year-old niece. Overwhelmed, Chandler's on his way to deliver Poppy to his parents. But fate has other plans and, after car trouble, Chandler and Poppy accept a ride home with Steve. Though the heat between the two men is obvious, they put it on simmer while they band together to make Poppy's Christmas as perfect as possible.Steve soon comes to believe that while Chandler is the right person to look after Poppy, someone needs to look after Chandler. Fortunately, Steve knows just the man for the job.

    But ten years after high school, he’s still just as miserable and just as in love with the boy who lived down the street as he ever was. Now on a trip home for Christmas he finds out that running away from your problems isn’t always the best way to deal with them, and that for mending a broken heart, sometimes there’s no place like home.

    By chance he meets the charming and possibly perfect Hudson Smith, an out of town business man, who agrees to be his "personal shopper" in order to get everything done. In the middle of a whirlwind of prep, Will and Hudson find themselves doing more than shopping - they might be falling in love.

    Story is now bundled with In Another Life. A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2012 Advent Calendar collection Evergreen.Maccabe Fried and Josh Segal have nothing in common, but they’ve been friends forever. Maccabe is an athlete with dreams of playing professional baseball. Josh is a good student with dreams of being with Maccabe. Then both dreams come true.Maccabe and Josh fall into a passionate long-distance romance, and after years of hiding from the world, Josh wants to bring their relationship into the open. When Maccabe refuses, Josh is faced with a tough decision: stay with the man he loves or live the life he deserves. Somebody's bound to get hurt, but in the season of miracles, there's always hope for a happy ending.

    That was until he met Malachi Keogh. Well, maybe it wasn’t love at first sight, but it sure was something.Julian had forgotten how to live, how to be happy, and Malachi changed all that. Now together for four years, Julian wants to give Malachi a Christmas he’ll never forget.The only problem is, Christmas at a mail distribution centre is the busiest time of the year. It just might take the whole team to make it happen.Dearest Malachi Keogh is a 13,000-word short story.

    Although he’s nearly thirty, he’s never settled on a true career, and he has nothing to show for his years with Tom. Depressed and unable to find work, Nicky ends up couch-surfing with friends until he lands a house-sitting gig for a wealthy family.When Nicky’s clients discover that he loves to clean, demand for his services skyrockets. Word of mouth leads him to Spencer Cartwright, a busy computer consultant and a slob. Spencer and his wife divorced when he came out, but he’s never found the time or courage to settle down with a man. As Nicky sets Spencer’s house to rights, the two men find friendship. But Nicky’s past experiences make him wary of risking everything on love.

    Even worse is the holiday-themed hell of Santa's Village that looms right in front of the sports store he manages. It's yet another hurdle for Cal as he tries to survive the world of retail during the soul-sucking holiday season… until he catches a glimpse of one of Santa's elves and becomes infatuated with the cheery, gorgeous guy dressed in candy-cane tights.Of course, just walking up to the guy and asking him out isn't easy, and a botched attempt at matchmaking ends up turning a simple courtship into a mess for the gossip page. What can Cal do to overcome his social ineptitude, correct erroneous assumptions, and maybe have a merry little Christmas of his own?