Books Tagged With potential trigger - abuse - past

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

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

Summary: As a teenager, Lincoln Woodhouse was thrown out of his home, an isolated farm in Norfolk, for being gay. Life could have gone very badly for a young uneducated boy not used to the ways of the outside world. Luckily for him, he was saved by two incredible people, a social worker who found him a school and a place to live, and her brother, who taught him all he knew about working with wood. Sixteen years later, Linc has a successful business and many good friends, but he longs for more. One day, he receives a call about a job unlike any he' s done before. The beautiful voice on the end of the phone stirs something within him. A few days later, Linc discovers that the man who opens the door is every bit as attractive as the voice. David Rallison was adopted at the age of three into a happy family who helped him to deal with the other issues in his life. David has two great loves— books and cats. He loves running the local library, and also fosters kittens, but hasn' t yet found someone special to share his life. Could the person on his doorstep be that man? Book One of the Finding Family trilogy follows Linc and David from their first meeting to their discovering more about each other. But, as they begin to build a relationship, echoes of the past are always there, ready to destroy possible hopes of a future together.

Word Count: Click here to reveal86,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: David and Linc are now a couple and have each other to help them deal with whatever challenges the past and present throw at them. Having discovered his mother has died, Linc now needs to face the ghosts of his youth and return to the place he grew up. His Uncle Noah has done everything he can to remove the spectre of Linc's grandfather, but is it enough for Linc to move on, and is he prepared to discover more about his past? For David the present is just as demanding and more threatening. Now he has discovered his mother's name, will he continue his journey, and what will he discover? As he negotiates a path through his life story, David's whole world becomes more uncertain when the library faces possible closure. If he loses his job, what will he do? Will he be forced to leave the place, the family, and the man he loves? In the meantime, life goes on all around them. Linc and David enjoy their first holiday, a baby is born, kittens are fostered, pregnancies and weddings are announced, and Linc and David have plans of their own. Can their found family help when circumstances try to force them apart?

Word Count: Click here to reveal86000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Rocker Jesse Winters just wants to be left alone. If he could melt into oblivion he would and bid farewell to the wild child of rock n’ roll so many have dubbed him in recent months. Truth is, there was never anything reckless, wild or even deliberate about most of the things that had happened on Wild Child’s last tour, but had anyone cared to listen? No! Which was precisely why he was sitting in a cabin high up in the Colorado mountains, hoping the incoming blizzard would bury him forever. Ryker Jorgensen left the VA hospital with a bunch of prescriptions and pamphlets on how to deal with reentering the civilian world, not that he’s in any hurry to do so. His nightmares still keep him up at night, and every new limitation he discovers gives him more reason to believe that he’s hopelessly useless now. Better to drive up to his cousin’s cabin and lick his wounds. Come spring, maybe, he’d look into being around people, if only for long enough to make the kind of money he’d need to buy his own secluded place. The last thing he ever expected to see was the man whose face had been plastered in his footlocker and his dreams for the better part of the past six years, but Jesse Winters is nothing like he imagined. When trying to leave Ryker out in the storm doesn’t work, Jesse resorts to ignoring him. But two wounded souls trapped in a snowed in cabin have little choice but to reach out for one another when emotions get frayed. His only hope is that Jesse will trust him enough to let him drag him back from the edge before he’s just another burned out star in the legacy that is rock n’ roll.

Word Count: Click here to reveal81000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A baby’s laughter. A mind uncaged. Lance is known as Scourge, the warrior in the black armor, the dog of the warlord Ulfr Blackwolf. He was just a boy when Ulfr found him and molded him into the perfect weapon. He slaughters and pillages on command, merciless and numb, devoid of emotions. Then a baby girl laughs at him during a raid. And everything changes. When Gust, a talented healer, is out deer hunting and stumbles across a magnificent horse bearing a mortally wounded rider, he has no idea that his life is about to change forever. Gust applies all his skills to his patient, determined to save the rider’s life, and is rewarded when the man opens his eyes. As friendship, and more, bloom between warrior and healer, so does the danger over the horizon. Ulfr has not forgotten, and Lance must take his first steps on the long road to redemption.

Word Count: Click here to reveal44080 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Wolf shifter Xavier learns that you are often your own worst enemy. Josh McPhee always wanted to be an agent. To keep from going crazy at the Agency’s New Mexico substation, he talks to the imprisoned wolf shifter—or tries to. Their one-sided conversations only prove the shifter is not getting the help he needs. After all, he is a victim too. Wolf shifter Xavier doesn’t remember much before his time with the Knights or the time under their control, where he was brainwashed and used to kill innocent shifters. He wants to recover his memories, and yet he fears what he might find. He would escape were it not for the aide whose voice quiets Xavier’s implanted urges. Late one night the Knights attack the station to retrieve what’s theirs. Overpowered, Josh cannot stop them before they unlock Xavier’s cage. But Xavier rushes to Josh’s rescue and, sensing his opportunity, escapes, taking Josh with him. When Josh wakes up on the road, they strike a bargain: Josh offers Xavier one month of freedom before he calls in the Agency. Both doubt he can be cured, but something about Josh makes Xavier better. They just have to figure out what before the enemy catches up to them. Second Edition with updated and revised text.

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

Summary: In one tragic night Steven loses everything: his lover, his dreams, and his sight, but he gains the compassionate, caring dominant he has always longed for. He starts to rebuild with Nick, a fellow survivor of the tragedy, and together they discover new heights of love and ecstasy, and the real magic they can create together. Nick must teach Steven not only how to have a healthy and consensual BDSM relationship, but how to navigate the ways of magic. You see, Nick is secretly a mage, and the longer they're together, the more obvious it becomes that Steven is one, too. But as Steven begins to wield his new--and terrifyingly strong--powers, he draws the attention of evil beyond our world. The ancient enemies of the faerie courts have banded together under a cruel, calculating leader, and Steven is the only one standing in his way. Only Steven can defeat this threat... And he doesn't have the first clue where to start.

Word Count: Click here to reveal160,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: When Wynter Jaymes’ mate passes, he has no idea how he’ll survive. Sure, the province’s laws were changing and omegas gaining freedoms, but he’s of another generation. He’d been mere chattel and was never prepared to make his own way without an alpha. To make matters worse, someone from his past appears and forces him to relive the worst moments of his painful past before he could barely begin to process his loss. Why Wilder “Cav” Cavanaugh attended Warden Jaymes’ funeral, he couldn’t logically answer. He’d been compelled to come, memories of a single heat spent with Wynter urging him there. A skeptic, he’d never believed in the fated mate bullshit, yet one look at Wynter and he’d been done for. He’d been ready to run away with his omega and start a new life. He’d thought his omega had felt the same, but he’d been dead wrong. Losing Wynter nearly broke him, yet there he was at that funeral, ready to pick up the pieces and beg for the scraps of his omega’s love. When he finds his carbon copy at his omega’s side—a young man who called another father for over three decades—the treachery magnifies the simmering anger he’s held on to since being forsaken all those years before. Wynter is forced to face Cav and the son they made that heat—and expose deep family secrets that threaten to destroy the Jaymes clan. Trigger Warnings: Physical abuse, child abuse, mental health issues

Word Count: Click here to reveal50,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Two men, one with a past and one determined to give them a future. Mick Flanagan has kept himself hidden since his only lover died three years ago. He works at night, keeps to his routine, has impressive facial hair and avoids contact with other people as much as possible. Enter Ceri Llewellyn, with his constantly changing rainbow-colored hair, who, for reasons Mick doesn’t understand, seems determined to talk to him. Gradually, Mick reveals his traumatic past as he begins to trust Ceri enough to shake himself out of his entrenched routines. Ceri Llewellyn has no idea why Mick intrigues him, but he determines to bring this shy man out of his protective shell, especially when he discovers they share a mutual love of all things Doctor Who. Ceri faces his own turning point, a moment when he must decide on his future. The more time he spends with Mick, the more he realises he wants Mick to be a part of this new life. Can Ceri show Mick he’s his perfect companion, give him the new beginning he needs and, above all else, help him find his true self?

Word Count: Click here to reveal73335 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Running from his deeply conservative, religious parents, Noah Butler boards a bus to cross the country, praying the birth mother who abandoned him will open her arms in welcome. Once he steps off the bus near midnight, an aggressive stranger has him running for his life. Noah finds safety at the Village, a gay nightclub—the only place nearby open at that hour. Luckily, he still has that fake ID his best friend got him… and he looks older than eighteen. Inside the walls, he would be Christopher John Douglass and twenty-two—and he’d celebrate his birthday with the hot guy behind the bar. If the handsome bartender succumbs to his appalling attempts at flirtation. Brody Preston takes one glance at the new guy in the Village and wants to know his story. There’s something about Chris that intrigues him. Brody can clearly tell the guy is running from something. His protective instinct screams within—but that’s not the only thing that sets the guy apart. It’s also the inexperienced seduction Chris attempts that has him charmed. When Noah learns the bartender is the bar owner, he realizes he can’t come clean about who he really is. One-night becomes a week-long affair that ultimately ends when there’s too many questions Noah can’t answer. Again, he runs… But this time, he runs right back into Brody… because they have a past binding them together. A past neither of them comprehended. ***** Be prepared for a sexy younger man and his loving daddy, with a little touch of lingerie and BDSM in the mix -- this 73,000+ word Daddy Kink book is a mix of erotic heat and romance!   This can be read as a standalone title -- but there is a link between the two. Reading His Stepson Wears Lace first would make reading this one more enjoyable.

Word Count: Click here to reveal49000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: The first time Jereme Oliver was caught in his mother’s lingerie, it ended up being the most embarrassing and soul-tormenting moment of his life. For several years, he buried his needs and never spoke a word to anyone about his sexuality or fetishes, afraid he would endure more pain and anguish. When he has the house to himself one night while visiting from college, the desire to play dress-up screams in his veins. Thinking he’s safe, he pulls on some of his mother’s lingerie, adds some makeup and one of her wigs, and revels in the image staring back at him in the mirror. Nearly a year before, Anson Parker woke up in Vegas, married to a virtual stranger. Instead of annulling the marriage, he attempted to make it work solely on the basis that his new bride drove his controlling father crazy and that alone made him happy. Yet, no matter how much he tried to find a way through, eventually divorce seems like the only answer. Anson goes home early to make one last-ditch effort and finds his wife finally wearing the gorgeous lingerie he’d bought her several months before. He knows that sex can’t be the only basis of a healthy relationship, but he can’t contain his lust when he sees her decked out in all that silk and lace. He sidles up behind her—hungry, hard, and ready. After a line is crossed, he realizes it’s his stepson… not his wife… and both their worlds are turned upside down forevermore. ***** Be prepared for a sexy, crossdresser, his loving daddy, and a little touch of BDSM in the mix -- this 49,000+ word Daddy Kink book is a mix of heat and loving romance!

Word Count: Click here to reveal85119 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Eighteen-year-old Aaron Pickard is dealing with a lot: he’s falling for his straight best friend, his mother has ended up in the hospital after a violent assault by his father, and he’s trying to decide when to come out. Tack on the stress of an upcoming prom and graduation, a part-time job, and the possibility he could lose his best friend, and he’s an emotional wreck. Aaron’s best friend Jeff Leaton provides a soft place for him to fall when his life is thrown into chaos, literally holding him each night as they fall asleep. As Jeff helps Aaron navigate through the mess that has become his new normal, Aaron’s feelings for Jeff intensify. Aaron’s pretty sure it’s all going to end badly, but he’s holding on to hope.

Word Count: Click here to reveal34000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: In 1920, a werewolf attack changed Malachi Powers’s life forever. Now, a decade later, Malachi lives near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, as a lone wolf, avoiding humans and other werewolves alike. Two young men, Roger and Jonathan, arrive on the beach below Malachi’s cottage with a boat full of illegal hooch. Captivated by his unexpected visitors, Malachi wants them to stay. But bringing the men into his life would mean letting them in on his secret—and endangering his heart. Once again, Malachi’s life is changing. Forever. This book includes a scene in which the main character spies, without consent, on two people having sex. It also contains references to past sexual assault and underage male prostitution.

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Pansexual, Polyamorous, Straight (Click here to hide)

Summary: In a respectable neighbourhood, on the top floor of a beautiful house, crouches the Succubus; by design, and by temperament, she is all that men crave and fear. To the wealthy and privileged men of London, the Succubus is a test they must pass to gain access to the House of Sable Locks, the most exclusive brothel in town. However, to William, a wealthy young man born and raised in India, she is the very essence of his desires. William is recovering from the loss of everything he knows and loves when he first meets the Succubus. With great care she tears him apart... and he falls in love again. But their idyll cannot last: there is a killer loose in London, and the darkness of William's past is about to collide with the terror of his present. Based on the story "The Succubus" from the acclaimed erotic steampunk anthology Like Clockwork, HOUSE OF SABLE LOCKS lets us enter the mysterious brothel readers previously only had a glimpse of.

Word Count: Click here to reveal89.600 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Can you leave your heart on the other side of the galaxy? When Wouter, a down-to-earth dyslexic caretaker, accidentally activates a travel disc sent by his late brother, he finds himself whisked away to a distant planet. Desperate to go home and reassure his grieving mother he’s alive, he’s instead stuck struggling to fill his brother’s shoes to keep the amphibian bani from freezing to death. Nif, a bani healer, clings to human music as a lifeline to memories of joy and a world beyond grief after losing his mate. Intrigued by the culture behind the songs he cherishes, he volunteers for Wouter’s support team—even as many of his kin distrust the humans, fearing exploitation of their fuel production. Their first meeting is one of necessity—a human in need and a bani ready to mend. As they navigate mistranslations, killer plants, and space pirates, a deeper connection blossoms between them. Each shared moment and conquered challenge draws them closer to an inevitable farewell. Will Wouter leave his heart or his home? In this slow-burn ace romance, discover a low-angst intergalactic adventure where true connection transcends stars and species. ___________________________ Content notes are available in the book's front matter and on the author's website.

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Character Identities: Information not available

Summary: On the night of the full moon, a six-year-old human boy goes missing, and werewolf Alpha Tobias Rogan is blamed. But Kyle Slidell, Tobias’s vegan mate, knows who is truly responsible. Saul Hughes, a former Alpha turned fugitive, has followed his victim Brianna, Tobias and Kyle’s newest packmate, to Boston. Saul will do anything to destroy Tobias, including turning members of Tobias’s own pack against him–and trying to turn Tobias against Kyle. Immune to Saul’s mind-control power, Kyle locates the child. To rescue the boy and clear Tobias’s name, Kyle disobeys the regional werewolf leader, the Arkhon, and violates shifter law, placing his own life at risk and leaving Saul still on the loose in Boston. As the full extent of Saul’s crimes and abuse of Brianna comes to light, Kyle works with Tobias and members of the neighboring pack to locate the fugitive. But before they can stop him, Saul takes Brianna captive–and one of them will not survive. This book was originally published in 2012. This version has been revised, edited, and expanded from the original, with additional content originally published as a separate novel in 2013. This book contains child abduction; references to off-page abuse and sexual assault; violence between werewolves; and depictions of PTSD.

Word Count: Click here to reveal48000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Hunger is a funny thing. It makes people act in ways they never believed they would. Gareth Cadell always believed he’d be a winner if society ever collapsed. He’s big and strong, and he knows how to handle himself. He never considered the food issue, though. When things get too dangerous in the city, he leaves, but he hadn’t realized how quickly starvation would set in. Which is why, when he comes across Kegan, he can’t allow him to keep all his food for himself. Hunger is a dangerous thing. It turns good people into unpredictable ones. Kegan Ashida never believed he’d live this long after the collapse. He’s nothing special. He’s capable of killing if he has to, but he’s more likely to take care of someone than to harm them. It doesn’t mean he’s willing to surrender. He’s worked hard to build up his pantry, and he won’t allow anyone to steal his food. Gareth doesn’t want to hurt Kegan. It’s not his fault Gareth is hungry, and if he’s being honest, he’d rather kiss him than harm him. Maybe bribing his way into Kegan’s home and heart is the better way?

Word Count: Click here to reveal87000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Shane A cat is a man's best friend, because they can't be bought or threatened. If they don't like you, they walk away, showing you their butthole. If they stick around, it's because they find you interesting. Mimsy's stayed with me through six years and across half the country, which means I'm not a total loser. We earn our daily bread and fishy treats by busking, and sometimes we get lucky. Like this abandoned wine-tasting place we're squatting in. California climate so we don't need heat, running water still on, all the comforts of home. Sure, there's a weird guy with mental health issues who shows up now and then, but he keeps life interesting and he's not bad to look at. We might stick around Gaynor Beach for a while. Theo I finally have control of my grandparents' legacy, which means I can give away all the things they valued more than me. I have enough money to live on without theirs. The vineyard's easy. I'll give it to Manuel, the guy who did most of the work while never being allowed in their showplace mansion. I love imagining his kids bouncing on Grandmère's priceless antiques. The wine-tasting parlor's harder. I'd like to burn it to the ground, but the cops frown on arson, plus when I went to check it out there was a homeless guy living in it. Instead of being scared of me— because I admit, I was losing it a bit when he spotted me— he cleaned up the cut on my arm and listened to me ramble. He had no clue who I was and I liked that. Maybe I can turn my grandparents' showroom into a homeless shelter. Or something for homeless animals. Shane loves his little cat, and I wouldn't mind if they stuck around for a while. Impurrfections is a slow-burn romance between a guy who loves pets more than people, and a man trying to escape a painful legacy, who come together to build something better for themselves and Gaynor Beach. Warning for past history of emotional abuse. This book is part of the multi-author stand-alone series Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue

Word Count: Click here to reveal67750 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. Triss Singleton came to Summit Springs to find a safe place to raise her baby. No one believed her claims about her abusive ex-husband, so she saved herself by taking on a new identity. She just wants to start over and is leery of any cops, current and former… until she meets Briona Maverick, Summit Springs’ sheriff, jumpstarting her bisexual heart. After her missing girlfriend turns up dead, Briona is shattered. She’s certain she’s done with love and relationships, but the mysterious Triss Singleton makes her want to try again. Triss is more guarded than Fort Knox and avoids talking about her past, but something simmering under those well-fortified defenses makes Briona cautiously hope Triss is the kind of woman she’s been searching for her whole life. Plus, baby on the way. Bonus! But trouble arrives when Triss’s ex shows up in Summit Springs, and Briona faces a dilemma. She’s sworn to uphold her oath to protect abused women like Triss, but she’s an officer of the law, which often fails those women. Briona wants the happily-ever-after, but the sheriff must uphold justice. The wrong decision could cost her everything.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: In a world where a werecat virus has changed society, Roan McKichan, a born infected and ex-cop, works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds. The murder of a former cop draws Roan into an odd case where an unidentifiable species of cat appears to be showing an unusual level of intelligence. He juggles that with trying to find a missing teenage boy, who, unbeknownst to his parents, was “cat” obsessed. And when someone is brutally murdering infecteds, Eli Winters, leader of the Church of the Divine Transformation, hires Roan to find the killer before he closes in on Eli. Working the crimes will lead Roan through a maze of hate, personal grudges, and mortal danger. With help from his tiger-strain infected partner, Paris Lehane, he does his best to survive in a world that hates and fears their kind… and occasionally worships them.

Word Count: Click here to reveal78000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Ex-necromancer Frank Hope risked his life to help his demon lover Kasimir return to his homeland, a dimension humans call Hell and Kasimir calls the Eternal Realm—a beautiful medievalesque land. Now, because Kasimir is the heir apparent to a vast, wealthy kingdom, the two live in luxury in a palace by the sea. But darkness haunts them. Necromancers, humans sworn to capture and slay demons for Earth’s energy corporations to use as fuel, continue to strike the Eternal Realm. Strife between the Eternals’ kingdoms grows as well. When war breaks out with a neighboring land, Frank and Kasimir are forced to make hard choices that threaten their relationship—and even their lives. Is their love truly meant to be? Will the universe that once smiled upon them turn against them? This is the final book in the Love Songs for Lost Worlds trilogy and combines elements of fantasy, paranormal, and gay romance within the framework of an alternate 1980s world. Explicit sex, violence, suicide attempt, sexual assault