Books Tagged With what - emotion - grief

Word Count: Click here to reveal45000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Last time on Dragon War Chronicles, Danica’s motley crew took a break for mating and bonding, but the Cabal against them didn’t. Bullets flew, entire villages were destroyed, and they were no closer to finding out who was behind it all. A brave young human risked it all to get important information to the Dragon Council via Xander and Matt. A grieving father, brother, and protector was drowning but a lifeline was thrown from the most unexpected place. Traitors will be revealed. The delicate balance of power and secrecy is jeopardized. Revenge will be served, cold and with a sprinkle of poison. Get ready for a whirlwind of adventure! The next Dragon War Chronicles is jam-packed with thrilling escapes, shocking betrayals, and intense showdowns. Content warnings can be found at the beginning of the book or at the authors website. Dragon War Chronicles is a continuous series. It is best read in order. SYN Consulting Secrets Revealed First Strike Dragon's Hoard Intermission Cold Revenge

Word Count: Click here to reveal207000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Suspense and emotion intertwine as Cole's carefully constructed new life unravels before his eyes.Haunted by a sadistic serial killer targeting his family—with time slipping away and the threat growing ever closer—Cole must confront his darkest secrets and reveal a long-buried truth to those closest to him.With gripping twists and raw vulnerability, "Cole" is a compelling tale of redemption, sacrifice, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of looming danger.

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

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

Summary: What would make you reach outside your comfort zone? Aron Roberts helped his previous love discover a new one, so now he’s on his own, living only for his work and the times he manages to escape into the sky. He meets Joe Welsh again—a man he met at the roadside a year ago, a man who became an out-of-reach figure in his fantasies. Aron discovers Joe’s life has undergone major changes since their last meeting. The spark of attraction ignites into flames only to be put out by uncomfortable truths. Can Aron overcome his fears and step out of his comfort zone to find love? Can Joe help Aron to deal with his past and trust him enough to allow Aron into his life? With the help of family and friends, and a very determined one-year-old girl, Aron and Joe have a journey to make and obstacles to overcome, if they are ever going to get their happy ever after. This book is linked to Sporting Chance but can be read as a standalone novel.

Word Count: Click here to reveal96,122 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealDemisexual, Gay, Non Binary, Pansexual, Polyamorous, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: When it rains, it pours. And right now, it’s a freaking monsoon.   Bjorn:   After my parents' deaths, I devoted myself to raising my younger siblings. It meant growing up fast, but I had to keep the family together. Romantic relationships weren’t a priority. My siblings had to come first.   It takes my near-death experience for me to reprioritize yet again. I need to stop meddling in my siblings’ lives and focus on me. Only, I’m not sure I remember how. Then Kaino Nieminen and Xander Neilsen walk out of my past and into my hospital room, and maybe, just maybe, the universe is finally cutting me a break.    Xander:   I live to fill eager students’ minds with the wonder that is Dickens and Austen, to debate the merits of Shelley, and dive into the scandalous roots of the Bronte sisters’ novels. Woe betide the graduate student who doesn’t find English Literature fascinating. I have no patience for unenthusiastic students, or issues letting them know. I’ve been called sharp-tongued, defensive, and dramatic. Traits of many main characters in my beloved classic novels, so I take it as a compliment. Though it doesn’t win friends and influence students. Or Deans in the English department. Or romantic partners.   Except for Bjorn Osouf. Our fleeting but passionate relationship burns in my memory, like the glowing embers of Manderley. When the fool plays hero and almost gets himself killed, I take it as my sign to reconnect. As expected, there’s still a spark between us. What I don’t anticipate is the imminently fascinating Kaino Nieminen, or my inconvenient attraction to them.   Kaino:   Making personal connections is a challenge. I’m no introvert, but I need time to really get to know someone, to trust them, before they’re a friend. As a non-binary, touch-averse, demisexual, it takes even longer for anything romantic to develop, and believe me, most people aren’t that patient.    Only one person has cared to try. And when he almost dies, it’s the shove I need to reconnect. Before I know it, I’m in Bjorn Osouf’s hospital room, and the instant reconnection has me eager to give things one more try. Then Xander Neilsen walks in and throws a wrench into my plan. ​   Complete Me is a low-angst, MMX, opposites attract, second chance contemporary LGBTQ+ romance about unexpected connections, being more than two halves of a whole, and finding the perfect fit, even if it’s not quite as expected. It contains lots of dad jokes, no cheating, and has a guaranteed happily ever after.

Word Count: Click here to reveal67000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Wherever August Morrison and Ricardo Torralba go, chaos is sure to follow. The authors certainly know this, since their “standalone book” has now turned into a series with no end in sight, because…UGH. These two. We give up. Anyway. Detective David Chandler had no clue what he was getting into when he and his partner decided they were going to nail August for murder. They didn’t realize it was one of the few murders August didn’t commit, or that their homicide investigation would lead them into the middle of a mob war. Cavalcante underboss Pedro Silva knew asking August and Ricardo for help was a terrible idea. Just mentioning their names is bad for Pedro’s blood pressure. Owing them a favor? Oh Lord. He still asked, though, because he was out of options, but he can’t say he didn’t know he’d regret it. Neither man expected things to blow up this badly. Now they’re both on the run from the mafia, the cops, and everyone in between… except for August and Ricardo. On one hand, that means they have two expert assassins in their corner. On the other, it means they have the biggest troll on the planet heckling them at every turn. And sticking them in a safehouse together. With only one bed. And if August or Ricardo make one more comment about how Dave and Pedro should just hook up already… Cop vs. Capo is 67,500 words long, and is book 4 of the Hitman vs. Hitman series. CW: combat PTSD, alcoholism, on-page violence, discussion of abuse of a sex worker

Word Count: Click here to reveal89000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Ever found yourself in the middle of a game of cat and mouse, thinking you’re the feline, only to discover that you’re the rodent? My head’s been so twisted up lately that I no longer know what game Ocean and I are playing with each other, or what I’ve done to piss off Pope but now it’s starting to look like the man I’ve been after for years has his eyes on the one I’ve recently claimed.

Word Count: Click here to reveal60,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: NEWLY REISSUED, WITH NEW COVER ART! Jimmy McSwain returns to help his sister's boyfriend fight a murder charge--and finds he may just have a lead on a cold case. Hell's Kitchen private investigator Jimmy McSwain returns in a twisting tale of past sins and present-day vengeance. Jimmy McSwain isn't thrilled about taking a case for free—but when his sister fears her boyfriend, Rocky, is cheating on her, he has no choice. But the case takes a deadly turn when Rocky is standing over the body of a man he was just seen kissing, and he's holding the gun. He begs Jimmy to prove his innocence. Meanwhile, as a sweltering heat wave claims New York City, a gunman with a thirst for blood is targeting Manhattan deli owners and has already claimed two victims. Jimmy knows a thing or two about those—fourteen years ago his father was killed outside a deli, and it's possible today's killer could be linked to that unsolved murder, one that continues to haunt Jimmy. Enlisting the aid of sexy NYPD Captain Francis X. Frisano, Jimmy finds himself torn between the two cases, as well as the heat simmering between himself and the hot cop. Suddenly a quiet summer has erupted into a full blown crime wave.

Word Count: Click here to reveal82000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Christine is on the hunt to find out more about her great aunt, Rose, hoping to decipher their severed relationship and the murder Rose committed, for which June is in prison. With a stroke leaving Rose incapacitated, it’s a rush against time to find the truth. Things are doubly complicated when Christine’s girlfriend Terrie is accused of assaulting someone. Nervous about what she might do next, Christine and her friends avoid Terrie. With everything at stake, Christine must stick to the cold hard facts, reminding herself not to let her emotions get in the way. Christine must evaluate everything happening in her life. The weight of the events buried by her aunt so many years before and the shame of the actions of the love of her life rest squarely on her. If the eyes of the law are always 20/20, how do love, emotion, and insecurities distort fact?

Word Count: Click here to reveal120,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Blurb Crossing The Touchline by Jay Hogan What if you’ve worked your whole life for a dream, to play rugby for the most successful sports team on the planet, the New Zealand All Blacks? What if that dream is so close you can smell it? What if you meet someone? What if you fall in love? What if your dream will cost the man who’s stolen your heart? And what if the dream changes?   Reuben Taylor has a choice to make. Cameron Wano is that choice.   Part of the Auckland Med. series that includes ‘First Impressions’ Can be read as a standalone.  

Word Count: Click here to reveal66176 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: This Christmas, Daddy gives him the one thing he’s never had—acceptance. My ex had rules. Rules about the part of me that slips soft and small. No pacifiers. No bottles. No little space. No embarrassing habits that would hurt his political career. So I packed my duffle bag and drove toward a tiny Vermont town founded by two queer men who refused to keep hiding, and built a haven for people who had never truly fit anywhere else. I only meant to stay for two weeks. Heal a little. Breathe again. Then I walked into Holly & Pine… and met him. Graeme Whitlock. He sees me. Not the version I was scolded into being—the real me. He offers structure instead of control, security instead of shame, and care without conditions. And suddenly, Winterhaven doesn’t feel like a stop on the map. It feels like home. I didn’t plan to fall for the man who makes me feel small in the safest way. Keeping him? That might be the bravest Christmas wish I’ve ever dared to make.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Five years after losing his partner, Noah Coleman lets Andy Lane into his life and the life of his daughter, Emily. Emily and Andy obviously adore one another, but can Noah handle it when his feelings of friendship for Andy become something more?

Word Count: Click here to reveal30,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Join bestselling author Dahlia Donovan on a cosy mystery adventure in Grasmere Cottage Mystery book one. With love, wit, and a murder to solve, life for Valor and Bishan is about to get bloomin' complicated in this sweet gay romance. Dead body in the garden? Check. Mystery to solve? Check. Police focused on the wrong person? Not good. All grown up and graduated, Valor Tarquin Scott, son to Earl and Countess Scott, owns The Ginger’s Bread, a biscuit shop, in Grasmere in the Lake District. The love of his life, Bishan Tamboli, has turned his music studies into a successful career playing with the London Symphony Orchestra. It’s a perfect life with their cat, spending evenings watching Poirot on the television. The nightmare begins with one dead former schoolmate, leading police to believe Bishan is responsible. Valor struggles to solve the cryptic puzzles left behind in a race to prove Bishan’s innocence. He can’t help wondering how far the body count will rise before they manage to stop the killer.

Word Count: Click here to reveal75000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Someone is trying to kill Marc Foster. Attempted poisoning was bad enough, but when the would-be killer messes with the brakes on Marc’s precious Porsche, the art dealer admits he needs help. He just wasn’t expecting help to be quite so dark and sexy. Royce Karras loves his job at Ward Security. He’s making up for a lifetime of bad decisions and a bloody past he’d rather forget. But Marc isn’t the spoiled rich boy he thought he’d be protecting. Sticking close to Marc as his “boyfriend” gives Royce insight into his toxic family, but it also reveals a brilliant, compassionate man who completely disarms Royce. Against his better judgment, Royce finds himself falling. But can they find a way to make it work when Royce’s past threatens to tear their lives apart? Their future hinges on a lost Renaissance painting, six Bichon Frises, and a pornographic Robin Hood. No worries, right?

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

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

Summary: An abandoned wolf with a rare disorder. The new pack doctor hell-bent on claiming the wolf meant to be his. A renegade wolf haunting the footsteps of the wolf whose bondmark he wears, and hates. The fates say these three belong together, like broken pieces of carnival glass just itching for a bit of glue, and the fates are never wrong, are they? Graham doesn’t think so, but convincing Zane and Cormac of that might take words that were never covered in his anatomy books. A season. That’s the longest Zane stays anywhere. When the snow thaws and the pass is clear, he and his band will limp out of town in their battered RV, leaving Graham and his bruised heart behind him, unless he can find a way to convince Zane to take a chance on something no one has ever taken the time to explain to him. Bond marks might be a desire of some wolves, but for Zane, they mean the end of the only family he’s ever known. On stage, he’s not the pup some angry wolf tossed out an open window into the scorching heat of desert sands, he’s Z. Wild, charismatic, nymphomaniac lead singer of Howling Rain. His after-show activities are what put the bond marks on his wrists in the first place, much to the dismay of his band mates who fear that those other kinds of mates will be the end of the success they’ve found together. It’s up to Graham to teach them all that compromise, and understanding are a big part of the mating process, and that their found families can be expanded to fit a couple more wolves. After all, the attraction is there, and in those soft, cuddly moments where Z fades and Zane emerges, all their little wolf wants is cuddles, warm blankets and lots of love.

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

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

Summary: Cathal Kinnery is an arrogant, overeducated jerk, and Damon Eglamore is not afraid to tell him so. But Damon married Cathal’s best friend, so they have an uneasy truce. Then she passes away. Now they’re stuck together in close quarters, trying to honor her memory without shouting at each other all the time. At first, they have no idea how to move forward. Damon is a chef, but all his favorite recipes remind him of his late wife. Cathal would love to start tomcatting around town again, except for that annoying promise he made to his best friend about looking after Damon. Then Damon’s son comes to them for help, convinced the only way to win over his first crush is a gender-bending Shakespeare production. After that, Cathal talks Damon into taking up baking as a new way to use his talents. Next thing they know, they’ve begun a new life working as a team instead of jumping at each other’s throats. But can they trust each other long enough to make it last, or will they fall into old bad habits again?

Word Count: Click here to reveal98000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Ian Pierce is the chef and part owner of the hottest restaurant in Cincinnati, his chosen family is full of happy relationships, and the scruffy, snarky cop who has been haunting his dreams is one step closer to being in his bed. But everything comes crashing down when the past he narrowly escaped nine years ago comes to a deadly head. Hollis Banner was enamored of Ian at first sight. He’s kept his distance, knowing the gorgeous, self-confident man is out of his league. Yet there’s no standing aside when Boris Jagger escapes a raid. Jagger’s world has been nearly destroyed and this time, the crime boss is coming after Ian and his friends personally. Hollis will do whatever it takes to keep Ian safe as they escape to a safe house with a couple of Ian’s overprotective friends. And Ian finds himself in a race to unlock painful memories—memories containing information that could take down the very last of Jagger’s illegal operations forever.

Word Count: Click here to reveal82000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Steel, one of the last Dire Wolves on earth, has searched more than 100 years for the special mate promised by the Fates. Discouraged after meeting his latest prospect, he sees a naked hitchhiker on his way home who's everything he'd envisioned the man of his dreams would be. His wolf and body tell him he's found his fated mate but why can't he pick up his scent? Robbed of his car, clothes and money, Jackson, Alpha of the Blackwood Pack has no choice but to thumb a lift, frantic to get home to his six brothers. He's been protecting them from a rival pack who massacred most of his family and wants to finish off the rest. When Steel rolls down his window, Jackson knows he also has found his fated mate but it would be too dangerous to claim him with his pack under attack. After the intervention of an Oracle and a Witch, Jackson discovers why the Fates made him unique-just for Steel. Navigating the mine field this revelation brings, Jackson and Steel must figure out how to make their relationship work while dealing with forces determined to kill the Blackwood pack - and them. M/M, Shifters, Fated Mates, MPREG, HEA

Word Count: Click here to reveal46665 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: This Christmas, a devoted Daddy is determined to show one stubborn boy what it feels like to be someone's priority. For six years, Nicky has spent every waking moment taking care of everyone but himself. Then Dr. Markus Webber arrives in Juniper Hollow. Kind. Protective. Far too tempting. After a painful breakup, Markus came looking for a fresh start—not a sweet, stubborn boy who makes him want things he swore he wasn't ready for. But the more time he spends with Nicky, the harder it becomes to stay away. And the residents? They've decided the handsome new doctor and their favorite care assistant belong together. Now Christmas is approaching, matchmaking seniors are plotting, and one stolen kiss could change everything.

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

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

Summary: Rich Cody joined the U.S. Marshals to hunt down bad guys, not babysit witnesses. Orders are orders, though, and now he’s protecting a hacker with ties to the Albanian and Sicilian mobs. It’s just another exciting day in WITSEC. Leotrim Nicolosi was born into a world of crime and bloodshed. When that bloodshed hits too close to home, taking down Leo’s boyfriend—the son of a notorious mob boss—Leo is determined to destroy the Grimaldi family. He’s got evidence that will send every last Grimaldi to prison, he’s got the family’s wealth in an electronic chokehold, and he’s got a vendetta that can only be settled with the blood of the man who killed his lover. When a routine transfer to a safehouse goes horribly wrong, Rich and Leo narrowly escape with their lives. With the Marshals compromised and Leo being framed for murder, he and Rich are on the run from criminals and law enforcement alike. They have no one to trust except each other, and nowhere to go that their enemies can’t reach. And the only way out might mean making a deal with the Devil. This novel is approximately 77,000 words.

Word Count: Click here to reveal111000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Demigender, Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: IT'S NINE YEARS LATER, AND EVERYONE HAS A NEW SECRET. BUT SECRETS NEVER STAY BURIED FOR LONG Nine years have passed since a group of strangers first met at a magical little restaurant in East Sacramento called Ragazzi. They have all been touched by its subtle magic, and have become a family. With the tragic death of one of them, ripples spread through the entire group, exposing secrets and revealing truths that many of them would rather not face. Dave and Marcos are each battling their own demons. Matteo is hunting an embezzler at Ragazzi, while Diego struggles to hold on to his son, Gio. Carmelina fears Daniele won’t take no for an answer. And both Ben and Sam are dealing with tragic losses that have turned their lives upside down. Into the mix come a few new characters—Ainsley, a Sac State student studying to be a doctor; a mysterious stranger who is stalking someone in the group; and a few new love interests who may have their own skeletons in the closet. The cast of River City is back, along with some great new Italian recipes for you to try at home! What secrets will be revealed before the last page turns?