Books Tagged With format - book

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Love knows no boundaries, and in this collection of six short stories, the writing duo known as Ari McKay explore how finding your soulmate doesn't mean you have to be part the same social scene, work in the same field, or even inhabit the same plane of existence! The Whole Kit and Kaboodle — Grey is smitten with seemingly shy librarian Henry, but Henry has a secret that could stand in the way of their happiness. A Hundred Lonely Halloweens — Micah forms an unexpected connection to the ghost haunting the historical home he’s refurbishing. Steam Heat — Coworkers Joss and Trey realize they have far more in common than they thought when they encounter each other at a Steampunk convention. Caribbean Blues — Jon isn’t the type to indulge in vacation flings, but he can’t resist Derrick, a marine biologist who studies dolphins in the Bahamas. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around — Landon thinks he needs to wear drag to catch the interest of his crush, but when he starts getting lessons from drag queen Raul, he finds himself growing hot for teacher instead. As Fair Art Thou, My Bonny Lad — Shopkeeper Adie has tried to keep his desire for men a secret, but Niall, a newcomer to the colony of North Carolina, tempts him to risk his reputation in the little port town for a chance at love.

Word Count: Click here to reveal62000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Jason Richards is ridiculously in love with his friend and coworker, Ahmed Kazimi. Unfortunately, Ahmed is a package deal—he has a boyfriend who, as far as Jason is concerned, needs to be launched into the sun. Then a mysterious carnival rolls into town, and Jason and Ahmed can’t resist going. Not even if Ahmed’s boyfriend can be depended on to make everybody miserable. When Ahmed wins a strange prize from an even stranger carnival game, weird things start happening. First, a mishap with a friend’s newly purchased love potion. Then a cascade of steadily worsening bad luck starts to rain down on every corner of Ahmed’s life. Though he doesn’t believe in the paranormal, he can’t help but wonder if his prize is cursed. Just to be safe, he throws it away. But it comes back. And it keeps coming back. Upon learning about the prize that won’t go away, Jason suggests the only solution he can think of: return it to the place it came from. Now Ahmed and Jason are on a mission to get rid of the cursed prize… assuming they can find that game again. Step Right Up is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains some long overdue friends to lovers, a strangely insightful caricaturist, and a little magical realism.

Word Count: Click here to reveal88000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: When a love triangle breaks, Steven Everett is left alone to grieve over a boyfriend lost to someone else. Surrounded by friends too tied to Aidan's new lover to give advice, Steven turns instead to a broken and beaten man, Aidan's other ex, Michael Rossier, who also knows the pain of having loved and lost Aidan. Steven's and Michael's confessions grow deeper, each confiding in the other until neither can deny an attraction. But being with Michael feels like cheating, and Steven isn't sure what to do. The connection get stronger every day, and Steven realizes he's facing an impossible choice. To make a relationship with Michael work, Steven needs to make peace with Michael's troubled past. Even more terrifying, he'll have to tell Michael the secret he's never told anyone, not even Aidan. With Michael recovering from yet another surgery, Steven leaves to face the ghosts of the past. He has to be certain. This time, Steven knows, the decision means revealing the secrets of his heart and hoping their fragile feelings can survive.

Word Count: Click here to reveal8000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: One weekend away will change everything. At twenty-five, Jeff Wilder is dissatisfied with city life and unsure of his future direction. The only thing he really cares about is his monthly visit to his grandfather in the country. His exact opposite, Danny Amaro is an artist and a free spirit. He believes in taking chances and living life to the full. Over one weekend, Danny gives Jeff a glimpse of what life could be like if he opens himself to change. Can a new friend, shared passion, and marmalade, be the ingredients to set Jeff in a new direction? Note: This is a short story of approximately 8k words and is available free to Nic Starr’s newsletter subscribers. Click here to sign up and receive your FREE copy.

Word Count: Click here to reveal77000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealLesbian, Polyamorous (Click here to hide)

Summary: Adrenaline addicted veteran, Vivian Chastain, confronts the man who has been following her for days, only to find he has a message of dire consequence for her. Spurred into action by his news, she barrels head on into a tumultuous and violent series of events. Stoic and stubborn, Vivian lands in the hospital, fighting for her life. During Vivian’s lengthy recovery, her partner is released from jail and the two reconnect, stoking up the flames of their toxic union all while Vivian dives into a blossoming relationship with a new love interest who offers fulfillment and love, if only Vivian can figure out how to allow it all in. Still on the mend, she learns that the coast is not clear as former threats return and continue to endanger her. While she cannot rest easy; friends, her work crew, and customers at the night club where she tends bar provide her with much needed fun, comradery, and support. Vivian wrestles with her temper, her penchant for physical violence, and her overwhelming emotional baggage. Struggles from within and without threaten her existence, and in the moment when death is just a breath away, Vivian’s brother shows up and changes everything.

Word Count: Click here to reveal110,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: At Scotland Yard, DI Timothy Stoker is no better than a ghost. A master of arcane documents and niggling details who, unlike his celebrity-chasing colleagues, prefers hard work to headlines. But an invisible man is needed to unmask the city’s newest amateur detective, Hieronymus Bash. A bon vivant long on flash and style but short on personal history, Bash just may be a Cheapside rogue in Savile Row finery. When the four fangs of the Demon Cats of Scavo—trophies that protect the hunters who killed the two vicious beasts—disappear one by one, Stoker's forced to team with the very man he was sent to investigate to maintain his cover. He finds himself thrust into a world of wailing mediums, spiritualist societies, man-eating lions, and a consulting detective with more ambition than sense. Will this case be the end of his career, or the start of an unexpected liaison? Or will the mysterious forces at play be the death of them both? And just who is Hieronymus Bash?

Word Count: Click here to reveal114,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Straight (Click here to hide)

Summary: Sing a song of sixpence A stage full of fright One two-faced blackbird Won't last the night   When a phantom presence lures Hieronymus Bash into a deadly game, threatening to kill one of the players at his beloved Gaiety Theater each day until famed actor Horace Beastly returns to the stage, London's premier consulting detective is on the case. The trouble? Horace Beastly is Hiero's alter ego and the true object of this murderous obsession. When the current star of the show is struck down, Hiero has to risk everything by stealing back the spotlight. After a golden summer together, DI Tim Stoker would do everything in his power to protect the man he loves. But a specter from his own past proves an unexpected, and perhaps fatal, distraction. Scheming prima donnas, grudge-fuelled critics, and an axe-wielding theater ghost are all out for blood. Will Hiero and Tim unmask this menace before the final curtain call, or are they past the point of no return?

Word Count: Click here to reveal94,010 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Demisexual, Gay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Love, served straight up. Malcolm Elliott has been keeping secrets. Helping his mom through a financial crisis has nearly emptied his bank account and his kitchen cupboards, despite his thriving career with Corporate Equality Campaign. Malcolm is also bothered by his inability to tell the most important people in his life that he identifies as gray ace. Stuart Morgan has a secret of his own. Though years have passed since the tattooed chef fled the Mormon church in Utah for New York, he's never truly come to terms with the fetish that ruined that rigid but outwardly perfect life. Experience has also taught Stuart that keeping his love of lacy things under wraps is safer than telling the truth. After Malcom's boss, Carter, hires Stuart's restaurant to cater a gala fundraising event, the strait-laced Malcolm is thrown together with badass biker Stuart. Despite their differences and a couple of false starts, the men discover they work well together and a friendship quickly forms. As Malcolm's feelings for Stuart deepen, his sexuality awakens, but he remains tight-lipped about his problems. And though Stuart grows more and more attached to Malcolm, he remains fearful of confessing his fetish. When both of their secrets are finally exposed, they find themselves at a crossroads in which they must choose between playing it safe or finally coming clean to the person they love.

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: The stakes are high and the heat is on. Beau Walker, owner of the Barbecue Shack, needs the help of Jake Parnell, his one-time rival and secret crush, in a televised barbecue competition. Beau is a proud man, but the stakes are high, and smart, sexy Jake is his only hope, even if being around Jake reawakens the attraction he’s fought for years. Jake left his hometown, determined to build a life somewhere his sexuality wouldn’t hurt his family’s restaurant business—and far away from hunky, obstinate Beau Walker. Then his twin, Josh, is killed, and Jake returns to support his brother’s wife and children. Despite his reservations, he agrees to go head-to-head against Beau on national television. Between stress and grief, as well as pride and determination, only one thing is certain—the heat between Beau and Jake extends well beyond the kitchen.

Word Count: Click here to reveal63000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Sometimes the truth is more dangerous than the lie. Paul Havilar is a dragon shifter who’s been on the wrong side of the law more times than he could count. All that changes when he finds his mate. But bonding with a vampire is out of the question, according to his family. They would just as soon wrap stolen Christmas lights around his neck as see him happy. So much for Christmas joy and all that fa-la-la-la-la crap. The day someone murdered his brother was the day Paul’s life changed forever. While not all changes are bad, like coming to terms with having a vampire mate, most sucked. His brother wasn’t perfect, but the gossip around town painted him as a monster. Now Paul wants to know the truth. It sends him down a dark path. One that leads to exposing family secrets and threats against the one person he needs on his side. His mate. When the danger mounts, he must rely on the last person he trusts: his brother’s killer.

Word Count: Click here to reveal54162 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: Lucien Thorne likes to be in control, but the boy he wants to own may take some convincing. Gorgeous but shy, Benedict Astor does his best to keep a low profile at the rowing club where he works. However, unbeknown to Benedict, he has attracted the attention of Lucien Thorne, rowing aristocracy, an Olympic medalist and a lord. Whilst looking for a new rowing partner, Lucien believes he has found what he needs in Ben. He pushes him to his limits on the water and it becomes clear that rowing with the pretty young man is not his only interest. Ben is attracted to Lucien but confused about his feelings. Lucien is demanding, arrogant and dominant—which Benedict responds to even though he feels he should resist. Fighting emotions he doesn’t understand, Ben has to contend with the bullying rowing club president and a humiliating auction of promises. Lucien recognizes Ben’s hidden submissive streak and makes his own need for control very clear. He bids for Ben’s time, then forces Ben to admit to his own desire to test the ground between them. When the deeds to the boat club are gambled away, Lucien and Ben must work together to save it. Will their growing love survive the pressure, Ben’s uncertainty and Lucien’s desire to own him completely? Publisher's Note: This book has been previously published by Pride Publishing. It has been revised and re-edited for release in 2016.

Word Count: Click here to reveal120000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: New Zealand farm boy turns New York fashion model. Fairy tale? Maybe. But it hasn’t been easy. A year in this crazy city, working my tail off just to survive in a ruthless industry where sex sells and boundaries are too readily crossed. A year and a reassuring ocean away from Hunter Donovan—a sexy, humiliating mistake that I’m not about to repeat. Distance is good. Distance is safe. But now Hunter is back. In New York. In my life. In all those treacherous feelings that haven’t gone anywhere. But when my world suddenly crashes and I have to piece myself back together and fight for my career, will Hunter be there when I need him? Will we have what it takes to make it through this, together?

Word Count: Click here to reveal68000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: A life in hock. Seven years ago, Logan Conner and his legend tripper college roommate stumbled into the middle of a ghost war. Logan escaped. Trent did not. Guilt has driven Logan to hunt for answers ever since—not only for why Trent was trapped, but how to return and save him. On the verge of abandoning the search as hopeless, Logan discovers the solution at last thanks to folklorist Riley Morrel, the man he never expected to fall in love with, and the man he’d do anything to keep safe, including leaving him behind. A life on hold. When Logan disappeared in a puff of motorcycle exhaust, Riley’s life took a nosedive. After dropping out of school, he’s not entirely sure it’s not still diving. Sure, he has a job—one that’d send his thesis advisor screaming. Still, there are perks to his gig as the researcher for paranormal investigation show Haunted to the Max: He’s in the ideal position to propose projects for the team to tackle. Like their latest episode in Portland, for instance, where Logan just happens to be bartending. If nothing else, confronting the big jerk will give Riley some closure. A life’s last hour. But as the two men take tentative steps toward each other again, they begin to realize that their relationship, the shoot, and Logan’s quest to free Trent are hopelessly entangled with one tragic day at the riverside, over a century and a half in the past. And when the smoke finally clears? Not everyone will walk away.   Stumptown Spirits is a second-chance, opposites-attract, supernatural suspense romance featuring a TV show one step past jumping the shark, a narcissistic TV personality, a craven ex-ghost, annoying bosses, interfering (but well-meaning) friends, personal redemption, and, of course, an HEA. Note: This book was previously published. It has been lightly revised and re-edited, but the story remains the same.

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: NO LONGER AVAILABLE - Jeremy Decker’s recent split with his long-distance boyfriend has left him lonely with a mountain of debt. His only practical source of extra cash is to teach summer school, even if it means teaching history—not easy for an English teacher. To support him, the school hires Lucas Van Sloan, a much-younger college history student. Lucas, with his swimmer’s physique and optimism, not to mention his determination to get what he wants, both attracts and annoys Jeremy… and what Lucas wants is Jeremy. The heat flares between them, but when Jeremy’s ex, a high-powered attorney with plenty of experience turning things his way, shows he wants Jeremy too, it threatens to snuff out the flame of passion and new love.

Word Count: Click here to reveal40000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealDemisexual, Gay (Click here to hide)

Summary: A rockstar with a tainted reputation. A shy, sensitive farmer. A magical ten days on the seas of the South Pacific. Axel Zelman Stepping in to protect my younger brother was a no-brainer. Now I have to pay the consequences and repair my tarnished reputation. That means facing my demons and spending ten days at sea on a cruise ship. At least it’s for a good cause. Kyle Brown Thanks to my interfering family, I’m thrust into a world of extravagance and dazzling spectacle. I’d much rather be at home in the vineyard. That is, until I find an undeniable connection with a gorgeous, brooding passenger. Imagine my surprise when I find out he’s an award-winning performer. Why on earth would he want to spend time with me? It’s only a cruise, a bit of fun, not a life commitment, and as my brother said—we’re not here for a long time, but a good time—so I’m determined to enjoy the limited time we have. I just wish my heart got the message. Sun-Kissed is a sweet and sexy story where two worlds collide in an opposites attract, celebrity/ordinary guy, rockstar romance set amongst the fun and chaos of a Pride Cruise.

Word Count: Click here to reveal80000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay (Click here to hide)

Summary: They're Treading Water in an Ocean of Secrets When ex-cop Jake Chivis is woken by the police and questioned about the mysterious death of his neighbor, he thinks his day can only get better. Things go from bad to worse when his lover, Mari Gale, brings him a horrific sex tape which appears to show a man being murdered. As they begin to investigate the origins of the video, nothing is as it seems. Will they find the killers before they strike again? Or will dark secrets rising to the surface in their own lives erupt and tear them apart?  

Word Count: Click here to reveal60000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay (Click here to hide)

Summary: HANDLE… Kyle Tripper has led an interesting life. Currently the manager of London's famous Club Delish, he used to be a croupier extraordinaire in Las Vegas. But not everything in that life was so glamorous; his ex was a piece of work. Now gun-shy, Kyle hopes there is someone special out there for him, and he secretly wishes it's luscious paramedic Eric Kirby. WITH CARE Every day Eric Kirby goes through the motions. Yeah, he saves lives, and, sure, he makes a difference, but he doesn't feel it anymore--not since he lost his one true. But, when he meets wild, flamboyant Kyle Tripper and learns there's a skittish, apprehensive man beneath the bold façade, the best of Eric's protective nature kicks in, and he opens his heart to a new love.  

Word Count: Click here to reveal42060 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealLesbian (Click here to hide)

Summary: Dark deeds are being done, and Jenn Canaday, a special agent with the FBI, has been assigned to look into them. This takes her to New Mexico, where cattle are being rustled and people are going missing—one of them the niece of the state’s governor. Meg Parkinson is a sheriff’s deputy in the small town of Laurel Hill. She and Jenn had once spent a steamy week together, but then Jenn had sent her away, something Meg hasn’t gotten over, as reluctant as she is to admit it. When Meg notices that the homeless camp on the edge of her town has become deserted, Jenn is brought into her vicinity to aid in the investigation. Will the former lovers be able to work together? Can they rekindle the flame that had once burned so brightly? And will they learn what’s behind all the disappearances without disappearing themselves?

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Information not available

Summary: Suzie struggles to overcome her past when her perpetrator returns intent on silencing her. Can she overcome her hatred and save her new relationship? Suzie has rejected men since her prom date tried to rape her years ago… well, all except the gay ones. As her life blossomed with a spectacular career on Broadway and friends who supported and loved her; relationships with men have continued to wither on the vine. Then Indi showed up turning her life upside down. Indi loves what he does. He is an agent to the stars… even if none of his clients are exactly… stars. When he meets Suzie his world is turned upside down. She’s beautiful, talented, smart, fun; and he wants her like he’s never wanted any other woman in his life. Unfortunately for him, the Broadway diva immediately puts the brakes on. Just as Suzie begins to overcome her trauma and develop trust for Indi, the past shows back up in the form of her attempted rapist running for a senate seat; and he’ll stop at nothing to silence her. In this hurt to comfort, soul mates romance, Suzie and Indi fight to overcome this new threat to their relationship but will they be able to keep her past from destroying them both? To my gay readers: This is a straight romance involving several gay characters.

Word Count: Click here to reveal72000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Gay, Questioning (Click here to hide)

Summary: A family emergency far from home. A list of people gone missing. A long, simmering attraction that finally reaches a boil. When Demetrius flies to Florida to support his parents during his mother’s health scare, Cody is left to manage their Critter Catcher business alone. And feel guilty he didn’t go along to provide support. Finally unable to stay away, Cody heads to Florida with Demetrius’s Aunt Amelia. Demetrius is shocked they came to support him. And Cody is shocked about his powerful romantic feelings for Demetrius. But all that will have to wait as they are tragically yanked into another monster hunt. In the Everglades. During a tropical storm. If they live through this latest challenge, Cody and Demetrius will need to have a long overdue conversation about their future. It will change everything between them, forever.