Travis wears his crown lightly, careful not to break any hearts. He knows what it’s like to really love someone who doesn’t love you back-at least, not in the way you want. Heath Kelley made the biggest mistake of his life the night before his best friend Travis left for college. One small action snowballed into years of silent misunderstanding and empty distance. When Heath accepts a transfer that sends him to his hometown, he doesn’t know Travis has moved back home, too. It doesn’t take long for the men to reconnect. Admitting they never stopped thinking of each other as “best friends” is easy. Forgiveness of past sins is easy, but confessing their secrets comes harder. When Heath discovers the truth about Travis’ private life, the newly repaired bonds of friendship are stretched taut. It’s time for Travis to choose—the love of his best friend, or a life of being second best.

    Loving his very closeted stepbrother cost Denny everything once: his home, his family, the safety net of his trust fund. Everything. Denny built a new life. Matt finally coming out has stirred his stepmother's wrath, though, and four years of not loving Matt is about to cost Denny everything. Again.Or is it?Original Prompt:Dear Author,Sometimes you can find the love in the most unexpected places. He was younger and so full of himself that I couldn't even stand the sight of him. Unfortunately, we've know each other our whole life, so I couldn't ignore him. And then he decided to prepare a surprise...I've fallen in love with this picture and I'd be really grateful if someone wrote a story about these handsome men. It could be about close neighbours or even brothers (but not friends :). When I look at this picture I see sparks of love, passion and admiration flying between both men and the story should be the same.Photo Description: Two dark-haired jean-clad young men stand chest to chest, faces angled together, eyes closed. Bare muscular abdomens touch. Their mouths hover a breath away from each other. The taller, his back pressed to a rough wall, has a finger tucked in the other man's waistband, pulling him close.Download the story, read it online or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 2.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, brothers, stepbrothers, family, drama, angstWarnings: brothercest (stepbrothers)Word Count: 9,946

     Aspiring television writer Evan Walker has been in love with his best friend since high school, but Kyle doesn't do boyfriends. Never has. Never will. Evan knows it's a bad idea to give in to desire when he wants more than a friend with benefits. He has a new dream job. Now all he needs is the dream partner. Kyle Bennett is a mystery novelist with a severe case of writer's block. He needs a change. He has three days on their cross-country train trip home for the holidays to figure out how to tell Evan he's staying there for good. He also has to write the overdue pages for his editor. Only, he's a little too distracted by the close quarters in their sleeper compartment--and Evan's ass--to get much done. The sparks that fly between them are hotter than ever. Good thing they have a real-life mystery to focus on: why people all around them, including Evan's new boss, want to get their hands on a journal that once belonged to Kyle's grandfather. When a blizzard traps them in the mountains, Kyle and Evan steam up the train's windows and must finally face their true desires. This book contains explicit sexual content and graphic language.

    He’ll do anything legal, including going gay for pay and spending a weekend as “Craig Rocke,” with gay porn star Marston Cougar. Marston tells him to remember it’s all fantasy for the camera even though it feels like more.Gary Carmeletti, also known as Marston Cougar, has a respectable day job. He started out making gay porn to pay for college. After getting his heart broken, he has a no-dating rule. Now paired with “virgin” Craig, he finds it hard to keep it make-believe when he’s losing his heart.Gary’s niece needs surgery, and he almost has enough money to quit for good. But now that he feels a true connection with his fantasy costar, will he be able to find a happily ever after when he feels it’s more than make-believe?

    After a tragic fire claimed his brother's life, Zeke's personal and professional life spiraled out of control, and now he has no choice but to sell his gallery to cover his debts. Enter successful entrepreneur Miles, who buys it and plans to make a commercial success out of Zeke's failure.Their initial hostility stands no chance against the strong passion that ambushes them. Zeke's talent and lust for life intoxicate Miles, and Zeke finds Miles's self-assurance and determination equally fascinating. But it's not until an unsolved mystery of violence and stolen sketches threatens to sabotage any chance at happiness that Miles and Zeke realize they have a chance at all.

    Puberty brought a distressing attraction to other boys, and an abnormal growth spurt that drove Dave further into his shell. Adulthood granted him the freedom to stand on his own two feet, but cloistered him in a plastic bubble of his own making. At seven and a half feet tall, Dave has no problem finding men for anonymous sex through sleazy backroom romps, but the experiences leave him feeling cold and unsatisfied. He dreams of love and commitment, but finding someone interested in a relationship seems like a pipe dream.Desperate for companionship, Dave signs up for an online matchmaking service. To his utter embarrassment, his first date never shows, but his luck improves when he runs into a former foster brother, Micah Black. Dave and Micah quickly rebuild their friendship, but with it comes the resurrection of the forbidden crush Dave harbored for Micah when they were teens. Micah is off limits to Dave, but that doesn’t stop Dave’s imagination from spinning torrid scenarios involving his straight friend.When Micah’s life is threatened, Dave’s inhibitions melt away. Unfortunately, the price of one chaste kiss could mean the end of the friendship Dave wants so badly.

    In a bid to escape his pain, Jonah moved halfway across the country to start over. Now, his mother’s death brings him home where he will discover a shared passion with his childhood best friend. Neil Brogan returns home hoping to reconnect with Jonah and ends up with more than he ever thought possible. They live on opposite sides of the country but the distance between them may be more than mere miles. Neil hopes to convince Jonah that some rules are made to be broken.

    Jimmy Miller never intended to lead a double life starting the day he fell in love with Darian, but his parents’ divorce, fighting in school, and constantly keeping secrets for his closeted best friend and protector, Matt, force his hand. Jimmy finds the demands too great to withstand and ends it all prematurely, leaving behind an angry best friend and a shattered lover. Matt and Darian cling to one another in the aftermath of their loss, forging a new friendship immediately tested by the truths of their relationships with Jimmy that are hidden in the pages of Jimmy’s journals. Will Matt and Darian discover what truly happened to their friend? And will this tragedy birth something beautiful between them as they learn the balance between life, family, and friendship when love is simply not enough?A Bittersweet Dreams title: It's an unfortunate truth: love doesn't always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.

    A story of deception and murder six long years in the making. After spending ten years in some of the worst parts of the world, he's ready to settle life down and open an art gallery in his hometown of Chicago. Trent Cooper, electrical contractor, is surprised by the last minute request for a fast-paced electrical remodel, little did he know he'd be immediately propositioned by the gallery's owner. Being gay in the construction industry isn't easy, nor is being father to his two young adopted children. Trent keeps his life in separate zones to avoid a short circuit. Will their high-voltage passion break the currents between them forever?

    Even his best friend Jim is having trouble bringing Michael out of his slump. Until Jim does, with a temporary solution to Michael's loneliness that's as unexpected as it is welcome, at first. The last thing Jim expects when he tries to cheer Michael up is to fall in love with the guy. They're just comforting each other; being very friends with benefits, right? So why is Jim so damned hurt when Mike takes off without as much as a goodbye? What is it about Michael that has Jim feeling lost without him? And is there any chance that Mike feels it too, or will Jim forever think of Michael as the one that got away?

    Such a diva, even from the beginning. I was entranced, smitten, mesmerized. He had the face of an angel, and the voice of one, too--and almost from the start I began the pattern of losing Nicholas. I was good at that--I guess I never believed I really deserved him, what he would bring to us both. What we would experience, because of him. What we could be, because of him. What I could be because of the strength and belief he had in me.Denial denial denial.Damn, I was good at that. But I was going to have to get good at trust and acceptance, if I wanted to keep him.Publisher's Note: This book is a homoerotic love story. It contains sexual acts that may be offensive to some readers: male-male sexual practices.

    Heck, after losing a lifetime partner, he figures it's even affecting his ability to do his job as a veterinarian. He's having nightmares and headaches and panic attacks. Which is why he lets his friends convince him to see a psychologist. Ben is understanding, sympathetic, and a good listener. He's also the most attractive thing Dakota has seen in a long time. But Dakota ignores that, and so does Ben, because they have a strictly professional relationship. Before they know it, Dakota and Ben are moving from being a doctor and a patient to being something a lot more interesting. That presents a whole new set of problems. Dakota finds it hard to forget, and Ben finds it hard not to analyze too much. The two of them have to work hard to find common ground and to find peace of mind. Can these two put aside the past and build a new life together, one that is uniquely theirs? Author Lorne Rodman says, Sean has a winner here. All the angst, love and heat I could want. You really care about Ben and Dakota. Be sure to catch this one!

    When sweet, charming tenderfoot Ben McCutcheon moves onto Crawford’s rural road, Rance is very aware that Ben makes it a grand total of two gay men in their tiny town, and even though he is instantly, painfully smitten, any move he makes could be simply chalked up to being hard up. Using his best weapon and favorite skill, Crawford launches an awkward, wordless effort to make sure Ben is kept warm during the cold Colorado winter, every last piece of him—especially his heart.

    All reported to be runaways looking to escape their shitty lives, but Remy’s starting to put together a different picture and he doesn’t like it one damn bit.Inspector Jamie Mainwaring stares at the six reports, willing them to make sense. Six boys, six months, all from just outside of London, which meant six different investigations. All of the boys were between the ages of ten and fifteen, all purportedly runaways from dysfunctional families. Something was rotten in Denmark.There are always runaways. Every small town loses them—every big city collects them. Kids look for freedom and discover they have more to lose than they ever thought possible. London and Phoenix, culture and cowboys, nothing linking these two sprawling metropolitan areas. Nothing except a hit on a computer data search.Two cops, one a cowboy, the other a Lord. A secret government agency, human trafficking, and a blazing hot mutual distraction.What the hell have Remington and Mainwaring gotten themselves into?

    Exposing the story would boost Ryan's career, but it would also come with the risk of ruining Dagger's privacy – and possibly his Rock God status.The unlikely friendship that develops between Dagger and Ryan brings Ryan to question more than just his journalistic oath to report the news. It also forces him to take a look at himself and newly discovered feelings – feelings that make Ryan blind to the risk of becoming front page news himself.Will Ryan find the courage to make a life decision to give himself true happiness with Dagger or take the path that would likely lead to heartbreak and destroy his career forever?