Nor Iron Bars a Cage


Kaje Harper - 2013
    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...

Wyn


Lily Mayne - 2021
    A demon. The bogeyman. I have been called all of them. Most creatures fear me, but humans are repulsed by me. They are terrified of me. They have created legends about me, ever since they became aware of my existence when the tear between our worlds grew and we—the monsters from their nightmares—flooded through in our droves.There is only one human who isn’t afraid of me. The only one who matters. And I will destroy anyone who tries to hurt him or take him from me. Danny is mine.For the first time in my unfathomably long life, I know what it means to want another so much that the thought of losing him threatens to ruin me. I will do anything to keep Danny with me for as long as I can have him—for as long as he is willing to stay by the side of an ancient, scarred creature with a voice so inhuman it has sent some mad.For some reason, Danny loves my voice. For some reason, Danny loves me. And when we both decide that his natural human life is nowhere near enough time for us to have together, we go on a journey between worlds to the one place where we can do what it takes for us to be together forever.Wyn is a sweet, low-angst novella that is part of the Monstrous series, a post-apocalyptic m/m fantasy series that features monsters and human men falling in love. It is best to read this series in order—if you haven’t read books one to three already, there are big spoilers in this!Warning: This m/m love story contains explicit sexual content and is not suitable for young readers. It also contains graphic depictions of torture and violence, and very briefly mentions the lingering effects of PTSD

A Dragon's Fortune


Sam Burns - 2021
    He’s a great boss, a good person, and he spends his days making honey-glazed caramel treats in the shape of bunnies for his bakery, Honey Bunny. Still, the highlight of every day is watching the adorable college student who’s Much Too Young For Him stuff his face full of Cillian’s sweet buns.Finnick West is a college student who dreams of baked goods, much to the consternation of his figure-skating partner. She’s not offended by the temptation, but by Finnick’s continuing failure to ask out the cute baker. With pressure from all sides, Finn knows it’s time to take something for himself, if only he can catch Hot Baker’s eye.While the two of them work up the nerve to ask each other out, an assassination attempt reveals forces working to not only stop their interspecies romance in its tracks, but destroy everything and everyone they love.A Dragon’s Fortune is part of the Magic Emporium Series. Each book stands alone, but each one features an appearance by Marden’s Magic Emporium, a shop that can appear anywhere, but only once and only when someone’s in dire need. This book contains dragons, ice skating, a whole bunch of sugar, and a guaranteed HEA.

Wish


A.J. Sherwood - 2021
    He’s got this.Christmas wishes do come true with a little magic, after all.Tags:Tropey tropes a lot, fated mates, dragon shifters, mages on a quest, because North’s finding a dragon, that’s happening, European road trip at Christmas, found family, true acceptance, twinks and makeup, shopping montage, steamy makeout session, because dragon fire, get it?, someone needs to fire the author, winter snuggles, poor Gunter had to put up with them, licking, not mpreg

The Mage on the Hill


Angel Martinez - 2019
    A jaded recluse who has forgotten what living means. They’re each other’s only chance.Toby’s wild magic is killing him. The mage guilds have given up on him, and it’s only a matter of time before he dies in a spectacular, catastrophic bang. His only hope is an exiled wizard who lives in seclusion—and is rumored to have lost his mind.The years alone on his hilltop estate have not been good for Darius Valstad. After the magical accident that disfigured him and nearly drowned Pittsburgh, he drifts through his days, a wraith trapped in memories and depression. Until a stricken young man collapses on his driveway, one who claims Darius is his last chance. For the first time in fifteen years, Darius must make a choice—leave this wild mage to his fate or take him in and try to teach him, which may kill them both. The old Darius, brash and commanding, wouldn’t have hesitated. Darius the exile isn’t sure he can find the energy to try.

Transformation


X. Aratare - 2014
     His parents had a storybook romance … until a freak ocean storm robbed them of their lives and left him alone to be raised by his grandmother. With their deaths, Gabriel’s adoration for the sea turned to fear, and his belief in happy-ever-afters turned to dust. Gabriel vowed to never set foot in the ocean again and to never believe in love. Gabriel kept that promise until after his junior year of college, when he and his best friend Corey return to the ocean-side town where he lost his parents in order to help his grandmother. Gabriel’s bitter fear of the water has only grown, along with his belief that it is his destiny to be forever alone. Corey is determined to prove Gabriel wrong. It is his mission that summer for Gabriel to find love on the beach … and maybe do some swimming, too. Gabriel will settle for simply not reliving his parents’ deaths every time he hears the rush and shush of the waves. Both may get their wish as Gabriel discovers the hidden past of the Bravens and the sea sends someone amazing to his aid. BOOK 2 IS AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER! ASIN B00N3D7MA2

The Necromancer's Light


Tavia Lark - 2021
    Always cold, always touch-starved, the only thing that helps is human contact. But that’s hard to come by when those same dark powers scare everyone away from him. Nobody likes a necromancer.Especially a paladin of the Radiant Order.Arthur’s still bitter and broken after his last lover stabbed him in the back, and the last thing he needs is another brush with evil. When he agrees to escort the wandering necromancer north, he’s just doing a public service.But he never expected Shae to be so clingy. Or distractingly attractive.Shae has never felt an aura as warm and safe as Arthur’s. He craves the man’s touch—and more. But everyone he’s ever known has left him, and it’s just a matter of time before Arthur leaves him too.Assuming the soul-stealing monsters don’t kill them first.The Necromancer’s Light is a gay fantasy romance, with magic, hurt/comfort, and bed sharing for Reasons. First in a series but can be read alone. 56,000 words, HEA guaranteed.

An Uncommon Whore


Belinda McBride - 2010
    He has no memory, no future of his own, yet deep inside Pasha knows that that he is meant for better things. The day that Pasha spots the dangerous pirate in the bar, he knows that he mustn't let the stranger slip away, regardless of what he must do to attract his attention.Captain Griffin Hawke spent the greater part of a decade searching for his lost king, only to find Helios Dayspring crouched between his knees, swathed in the robes and shackles of a whore. Though he is appalled by the downfall of his king, the hardened officer finds himself falling for the allure of the sensual creature who has taken his place. Returning Helios to his position on the throne is the only right thing to do, yet Griffin knows that in doing so, he risks losing his lover forever."A whore is a whore is a whore, unless he's something else completely. I guess I must be an uncommon whore." -- Helios Dayspring

Flirt


Lucy Lennox - 2018
    Gorgeous silver fox, Evan Paige, is way out of Stevie's league, however, not to mention the chief has always been a ladies' man, but when Stevie turns twenty-one, he decides he's tired of only daydreaming about Evan. He wants a real taste of that sugar daddy, even if it means turning the flirt factor up a notch or ten to make it happen. This 36k word novella has pee-in-your-pants humor, peel-the-paint-off-the-walls steam, and a smidgie-poo of hand-on-chest swooning.

Warlock in Training


T.J. Nichols - 2017
    He believes draining demons for magic is evil, but it’s a dangerous opinion to have—his father is a powerful and well-connected warlock, and Angus is expected to follow the family tradition.His only way out is to fail the demon summoning class. Failure means expulsion from the Warlock College. Despite Angus’s best efforts to fumble the summoning, it works. Although not the way anyone expects.Angus’s demon, Saka, is a powerful mage with his own need for a warlock.Saka wants to use Angus in a ritual to rebalance the magic that is being stripped from Demonside by warlocks. If Angus survives his demon’s desires and the perils of Demonside, he’ll have to face the Warlock College and their demands.Angus must choose: obey the College and forget about Demonside or trust Saka and try to fix the damage before it’s too late. Whatever he does, he is in the middle of a war he isn’t qualified to fight.

Counterpoint


Rachel Haimowitz - 2010
    Depleted by generations of war with a dark race, the human kingdoms and their ancient alliance stand on the brink of extinction. The outlands are soaked with the blood of the fallen. The midlands are rotting with decadence and despair.Elfkind, estranged by past crimes, watches and waits for nature to run its course.And then the two collide.Ayden's life has long been guided by two emotions: love for his sister, and hatred of all things human. When he's captured in battle, he must for his sister's sake swallow his pride and endure slavery in the service of a human prince, Freyrik Farr.Freyrik's always known elves to be beautiful and dangerous, but never has one affected him as deeply as Ayden. Can his life of service to his people leave room for this attraction? Dancing on a dagger's edge between duty and high treason, Freyrik discovers that some choices can change a life, and some an entire world.Between prejudice, politics, pride, and survival, Ayden and Freyrik must carve a new path, no matter how daunting. For nothing less than the fate of both their peoples rests on the power of their perseverance and their love.Note: This edition is a re-release of the same novel first published in 2010 by Guiltless Pleasure Publishing.This title is #1 of the Song of the Fallen series."Warning, this title contains the following sensitive themes: explicit violence"

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.

Snowflakes and Embers


S.A. Payne - 2017
    Left with no choices and options he braces himself for the worst.Liam is used to how his magic frightens people and he's learned to like his isolation. He's content being a Watcher and finds real joy in his work. The last thing he wants is a Bentan Bride.When destiny and chance bring them together they both have to struggle to build a new life.Status: CompleteWord count: approx. 200,016

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.

The God Eaters


Jesse Hajicek - 2006
    But when he meets Kieran Trevarde, a hard-hearted gunslinger with a dark magic lurking in his blood, Ash finds that necessity makes strange heroes... and love can change the world.