Books Tagged With where - general - small town

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

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

Summary: Colin Everroad should be dead, but after his lobster boat founders during a violent storm off the Maine coast, he wakes up on a beach. He’s cold, but unscathed… with strange memories of a face he can’t conjure and a voice he doesn’t recognize. No one can explain it, but a friend suggests Colin was saved by one of the mer. Except the mer don’t exist. Do they? But… that face. That voice. Someone was in the water with him. Someone saved him. If not a mer, then who? And whoever it was, Colin wants to see his face. Lir broke protocol by rescuing a land person, but he couldn’t just let the man drown. When he disobediently resurfaces to see his beautiful land man, he knows it’s only a matter of time before he’s forbidden to leave the depths again. One clandestine visit turns into more. Soon, Colin and Lir are meeting at the shore as often as possible, and the connection between them deepens. The only problem is that neither can live in the other’s world. Or can they? Then Lir finds a way for them to be together, but only for a little while… and at a cost. As time grows short, they have to choose: does Lir return to the sea and never see Colin again, or stay forever with the man he loves in a world that will never love them? Ripples & Waves is a modern, queer retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid.

Word Count: Click here to reveal46000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A Crumpet Christmas is the perfect time to fall in love. When a mission goes south, Elijah Cobalt is forced to take medical leave. What could be better than relaxing in a small town and keeping an eye on his little sister at the same time? Nothing, until he gets his first look at his sister’s boss. Elijah has always felt bulky and big around the smaller type of men he prefers and around Justin Bailey, it’s the same damned thing. Justin gave up dating big, muscled men after his breakup with his abusive boyfriend, but he just might make an exception when his café manager’s older brother takes over his spare bedroom. The instant attraction has sparks flying and, after a few days, Justin doesn’t want to fight it any longer. Christmas is a magical time of year. The power of love takes over. Possibilities are endless. Until Justin’s ex-boyfriend suddenly shows up out of the blue determined to cause as much trouble for him as possible. Only Justin has a support system now, in the form of a Special Forces Unit, and things are going to get really damned intense in a very short amount of time. Mess with one and you mess with them all. Author note: The men of Infinity are back in Reese Knightley’s Code of Honor book two. Risking It All is a fast paced, insta-love, alpha male, twinky baker, action and adventure Christmas story set in the fictional town of Crumpet, Washington, where it snows on the beach in the winter and Christmas is the most magical time of the year. This book is part of a series but can be enjoyed as a standalone. *Code of Honor, Cobalt Security, and Out For Justice series are loosely connected.

Word Count: Click here to reveal55000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Damien Fitzgerald has lived through hell and is determined to never let anyone get close to him again. A fervent reporter, he throws his life into his work and doesn’t care whose toes he steps on. But someone else does. He’s got a stalker, and the messages are growing increasingly threatening. He turns to his best friend, Justin Warfield and his lover, Private Investigator Marcus Drummond. Seems like a good idea until Robert Wyler becomes part of the package. Robert Wyler, the manager of the bar at the Warfield Inn, has always been misunderstood. Sure he takes care of his body, wears his hair long and likes tatts, but that doesn’t mean he’s domineering. A cold exterior hides the more passionate man inside. Men like Damien Fitzgerald get on his nerves. Too good looking. Too arrogant. But when Justin and Marcus needed his help to guard the man from a stalker, Robert couldn’t say no. Damien and Robert have a history. Whenever they are near each other sparks fly. Can Damien and Robert get past their prejudices to find the real men hiding underneath. Will they find love before the stalker gets to Damien and their chance at happiness is destroyed forever…

Word Count: Click here to reveal30000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Non Binary, Pansexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: Welcome to Bear Essentials, where we strive to make your inner beauty shine bright. Mel Carter is perfectly content with their life. A chance encounter and a size fifteen foot in their mouth later, content is no longer acceptable. Elias Garcia slammed into Mel's life with a carefree giggle. There was only one thing for a Dommy with a penchant for strict rules like Mel to do, assess their life and take the leap, okay two things. Join Bear Essentials' front-end manager as they discover just how special the full-time genius, part-time free spirit, Elias aka Blu, really is. Ruling It All is an M-NB sweet and fluffy romance with BDSM concepts, an age gap, pets who are "silent" characters, and an AI that will cause more than a little mishap.

Word Count: Click here to reveal55000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Can a boy from the country and a guy from the city ever make it work? Adam Chambers has never seen eye-to-eye with his father and is reluctant to take over the family’s property-development company. To clear his head and work out what he wants to do with the rest of his life, Adam leaves his responsibilities in the city and heads out to see the country. He isn’t much closer to deciding what to do with his life when he arrives at one of Australia’s largest events, the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and meets Joey Callaway. Since Joey’s father’s tragic death left Joey the family’s debt-ridden pub, Joey has struggled, desperate to turn the business around and give his mum the life she deserves. A break away from the pressures of running the pub is just what he needs, and a hook-up with Adam is the perfect way to forget about his troubles. The one-night stand might just be an opening act. If Adam and Joey can follow the music in their hearts, perhaps they can heal each other and create a melody that will last a lifetime.

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

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

Summary: Third time lucky is too much to hope for. Isn't it? Tyler Samuels had his reasons for leaving the country town where he grew up. He moved to the city, established a home and a career, and found love. Now Ty is in his early thirties, and as his life takes another tragic turn, he finds himself returning to the place he first ran from. Mac McGrath has lived in Armidale all his life. He loves his family and his job as an electrician, running the family business. The only thing missing in his life is a relationship. When Ty, his teenage crush, arrives back in town, maybe he has found someone to love at last. What starts as friends with benefits quickly turns to more for Mac, but Ty will need to let go of his memories if he is to learn to love again. But can Mac wait that long?

Word Count: Click here to reveal102663 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Out of the swirling mix of secrets and a hurricane, can love survive?  Two years later, part of the Charm family, Gavin Hartfield creates magical memories and events. One of those weddings will be for the Charm’s owners, Samuel Ashford and Dakota Mitchell, if they ever make up their minds. The other one for his ex-boyfriend and his new partner. In the middle of all this, he keeps tangling with a tattooed brusque EMT. Xavier “Gray” Grayson feels a bit on the outside looking in when it comes to the collection of Charm men. He envies all of them finding love. Pushing his non-existent sex life filled with one-nights at clubs aside, he runs through life as an EMT and college student pushing to better himself. Running along the beach and trails become his relief and sanctuary. Until he keeps tripping over the new event coordinator. An incoming hurricane takes aim at Shore Breeze. The town braces for the impact. Plans falter and change. Will life, love, and a wedding follow these changes?

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! In a tiny Adirondack village, a secret is about to be exposed. Noah Sanders learns from his mother—on her deathbed—that he is not who he thought. Suddenly, the unassuming Noah finds his entire life called into question, and only he can separate the truth from the lies. He’d been given one clue: his real name. But what is the reason for his abduction from the family he should have known. The coastal paradise called Cane’s Inlet, situated along the Jersey Shore, is where Noah finds himself, trying to keep a low profile as he quietly begins his investigation. But Demetri, a sexy diner owner, catches his attention almost immediately, as does the local police chief when Noah stumbles across a corpse on the beach. But it is a family named Hatcher who most interests Noah, and he must find a way to insinuate himself into their powerful grip, and only then uncover the secret to his past. SCANDALOUS LIES is the first part in a trilogy that will lay bare stories of yesterday, and in the end, no one will escape the web of deceit that has defined Cane’s Inlet for more than one hundred years. Scandalous, sinister, suspicious, the Cane’s Inlet Mystery is a tour-de-force tale of two warring families, one shocking secret, and, ultimately, one man’s self-discovery.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: A Christmas spent far from home. Cody’s father gone missing. Clues that point to another monster case. Demetrius accompanies Cody on a trip to visit his parents in Colorado for Christmas. The house is packed with Cody’s four brothers and their extended families, which is something close to chaos and means Cody and Demetrius are sleeping on the living room floor of Grant, his oldest brother. Soon after their arrival, they learn Cody’s father’s truck has been found in a ditch with no sign of his father and are out the door. Everything going crazy around them makes Cody appreciate what he and Demmy have found together, and he opens up to his family about the true depth of their relationship. There are mixed reactions, but Cody's honesty with his family proves to Demetrius just how important he's become to Cody, and he realizes he couldn't ask for a better Christmas gift. Between Greg Bower’s disappearance, Grant's cannabis greenhouse, and a trip to the mall with Cody’s nieces and nephews, the guys also manage to find themselves smack dab in the middle of another monster case when a Sasquatch makes a terrifying appearance. As they high-step for their lives through the deep Colorado snow, they’ll end up saving a movie stuntman with a terrible sense of direction and writing Cody’s nephew an IOU for a brand new drone.

Word Count: Click here to reveal6400 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Sometimes you have to go home again. When Bryce Edwards left Minnesota for the bright lights of Hollywood ten years ago, he was determined not to look back. He's built a solid acting career through his own hard work and talent. But when he finds himself unemployed right before Christmas, the memories he's been ignoring start to rise up and annoy him. Maybe it's time to take a different approach; maybe it's time to confront his past and not just use it as motivation for his next angsty scene. If he can make peace with what happened back then— the small-town bigots who drove him away, and his first boyfriend who refused to leave with him— maybe he'll be free to move on to something better. He's not sure what “something better” will look like, but he's finally ready to get on a plane, go home, and find out.   64,000 words

Word Count: Click here to reveal28000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Fear took him away, but longing brought him back… Six years ago, Nikolas Steele’s heart was broken when his best friend—the man who he thought was his forever—walked out on him without an explanation. Now, Ky Kendall is back in town, just in time for the holidays. When he shows up at Nikolas’s Santa Shop with a little girl who looks like him, Nik has questions. In a time of need, Ky steps up to play the part of Santa’s Helper to keep the spirit of Christmas alive, but neither of them expect those old sparks to fly. Despite their renewed passion, Ky’s still running scared and Nikolas knows that at any moment, their fragile relationship could be shattered once more. And this time, he isn’t sure if he’s strong enough to survive it. Second Chances is a 28,000 word MM contemporary romance novella with a guaranteed HEA, and no cliffhangers or cheating. Each book in the Sheltered Hearts series can be read as a stand alone.

Word Count: Click here to reveal50348 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Nerisa is a selkie who had long dreamed of exploring the world beyond her people’s territory and finding her other half, should she exist. With a leap of faith fueled by wanderlust, she was ready to embrace what the town of Arkan Hallow had to offer. She found an uninhabited shack by the sea, a job as a carer and the beginnings of a new life… and she was enjoying it. The thief struck when she was at work and stole her pelt. It was more than a piece of clothing or her means to shapeshift; it was a part of her soul and her only way of returning to live among her kind. Without it she couldn’t become a seal again. She couldn’t return to live in her family’s waters and continue the life she’d had before. Without it she felt very much alone. Desperate, Nerisa searches for help and finds it with Nina, the daughter of a witch and fortune teller. Nina is still recovering from a break-up, and she becomes captivated by the beautiful woman from the sea. She decides she has to help her at any cost. Together they search for Nerisa’s pelt and try to get it back; not an easy task when they’re not sure where to begin. The journey allows them to discover something just as valuable along the way: each other. The closer they get to answers, the more dangerous their quest becomes, and the stakes should they fail. Only by discovering who is behind it all can they get Nerisa’s pelt back and find a happy future together. Reader Note: Selkies Freedom is a F/F paranormal romance novel of just over 50,000 words that features sapphic love (the steamy and sweet kind), adult language and some violence. Two women willing to face danger together in the name of love await you!  

Word Count: Click here to reveal29,610 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Recent graduate Dr. Fenton Miller takes December off to decide which job offer to accept. Then he meets his landlord, sous chef John Barton. Suddenly, thinking about his career becomes his last priority. A better option might be a month-long roll between the sheets with John. While John is attracted to Fen and might even agree to his plan, John has got more pressing matters to worry about. His past has arrived in tiny Stone Acres from San Francisco and is intent on sucking him back into a life he hated. Promising to help John and shelter him if necessary, Fen finds he’s also being threatened by a homophobic father who doesn’t find Fen as entertaining as his kids do. As they wade through their problems during the happiest time of the year, Fen and John rely more and more on each other for happiness.  

Word Count: Click here to reveal47,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Information not available

Summary: A collection of tales filled with monsters, be they human or beast, ranging in setting from dystopia to pitch black noir and even general silliness. From the ludicrous to the frighteningly plausible; from deep space to after the end of the world. There are clumsy werewolves and bloody revenge, monster sleep overs and a dieting fad sure to kill your appetite. Whether looking into the past or the future, you're sure to find that stuff gets really weird.

Word Count: Click here to reveal84600 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Recently traded to the newly formed Vermont Trailblazers, professional hockey player Roman Kinsey needs to focus on helping the team win games and filling the stands, not on the blond, bespectacled part-timer who works at the library he volunteers at. He knows all too well that outing himself equals heartache and ridicule…or worse. Cody Evans, psych major and grad school hopeful, notices everything and thinks too much. But he doesn’t know what to think when he sees Roman reading to kids. The rugged hockey player just doesn’t look like the type. But it stirs something in him, something he’s never felt before. When the library is threatened with closure, Cody enlists Roman’s help. As they get to know each other better...much, much better...they realize that they have more in common than books. But Roman’s keeping a big part of himself from his team, and giving in to his feelings for Cody might be more than he’s willing to risk.

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

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

Summary: Grey I was just a divorced, small town, hardware store owner, and the man most people considered a gentleman. A slip up in my strict routine would send the town gossips into a frenzy. Yet I'd grown up in that town and everyone knew everyone. No secrets were safe, but I carried one that would send my world into chaos if I let it. I was falling for a town transplant and one of my best friends, Sugar. He was everything I wasn't. Spontaneous, fun, and knew exactly who he was. What would he see in a boring man like me? Sugar (Shug) I was that fat, nonbinary person who hadn't known the inside of a closet in my life. With a mom like mine, she taught me to never live with regrets, but I had a massive one. I fell in love with my straight, gentlemanly best friend. Grey was everything I wasn't. Thankfully, he was clueless, but our shared friend group wasn't. How long could our friends stay silent in a town as small as ours?

Word Count: Click here to reveal44000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Eric and Ellison Gant, better known as Sin and Saint, were opposite sides of the same coin. They epitomized the nicknames given to them by their friends in the band Executioners. One thing Sin and Saint did well was fight, and being inseparable meant they had a lot of disagreements, but one thing they agreed on was that Sheriff Camden Pelter was theirs. The older, stoic man didn’t agree, yet they were determined to change his mind. jCamden Pelter had the daunting job of turning the Powers Sheriff Department around. The residents of the Georgia town didn’t have much faith or respect in the deputies serving them. That’s where he came in, and he was determined to do his job. That was easier said than done with two annoying brothers, Sin and Saint, who dogged his every step. No way in hell was he getting mixed up in the chaos that were the Gant Twins. Now if only if he could get them to listen and realize they didn’t have a chance of changing his mind.

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

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

Summary: Does a bear shift in the woods? Well, partially. That was what got grizzly shifter Ted Farnsworth into trouble. He wasn’t trying to break the Secrecy Pact. He just wants people to see the real him. So he signs up with the mate-matching service Supernatural Selection — which guarantees marriage to a perfect partner. Not only will Ted never be lonely again, but once his new beaver shifter husband arrives, they’ll build Ted’s dream wilderness retreat together. Win-win. Quentin Bertrand-Harrington, scion of an incubus dynasty, has abstained from sex since nearly killing his last lover. When his family declares it’s time for him to marry, Quentin decides the only way not to murder his partner is to pick someone who’s already dead. Supernatural Selection finds him the ideal vampire, and Quentin signs the marriage agreement sight unseen. But a mix-up at Supernatural Selection contracts Quentin with Ted. What’s Ted supposed to do with an art historian who knows more about salad forks than screwdrivers? And how can Quentin resist Ted’s mouthwatering life force? Yet as they work together to untangle their inconvenient union, they begin to wonder if their unexpected match might be perfect after all.

Word Count: Click here to reveal95500 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Arrow Bay: a picturesque seaside city of parks, mountain trails, incredible views…and corpses. An unidentified vigilante, unhappy with plans to alter the idyllic character of Jake Finnigan’s hometown, goes to extreme ends—in disturbingly creative and fatal ways—to express their displeasure. The citizens of the village are growing increasingly concerned and agitated, wondering who will be next and if the killer walks among them. Jake and his partner Sam O’Conner, who insist that they do not poke their noses into murder investigations, suddenly land in the middle of an increasingly complex and bizarre case, and as the body count grows, find themselves falling under suspicion.

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! At the conclusion of SCANDALOUS LIES, Noah Sanders made a startling discovery, one that turned his already conflicted motives into further turmoil, the mystery of his past growing as dangerous as the undertow of the ocean. In Cane’s Inlet, located on a barrier peninsula along the Jersey Shore, the lucrative summer season is fast-approaching, as is the Opening Night celebration of the Medusa Lounge, where Noah has secured a job. But working alongside the Hatcher’s at their exclusive resort is complicated by his own investigation into the scandal that might connect them. With a family secret uncovered during a surreptitious visit to their mansion, Noah’s quest to seek the truth behind his mother’s deathbed confession takes on sudden credence. With the aid of his new lover, Demetri, as well as Cane’s Inlet busybody Cilla Cane, the questions only deepen. When another murder shocks the coastal village, Noah realizes that what’s happening no longer concerns only himself, but perhaps all of Cane’s Inlet. With a mystery dating back to the village’s founding and the raising of the old pirate ship Medusa, no one is safe from being exposed, or from a desperate killer. For Noah, the truth might come at a price higher than he’s willing to accept. SINISTER MOTIVES is the second part in a trilogy that will lay bare stories of the past, and in the end, no one will escape the web of deceit that has defined Cane's Inlet for more than one hundred years. Scandalous, sinister, suspicious, the Cane's Inlet Mystery is a tour-de-force tale of two families, one secret, and, ultimately, one man's discovery of his own true self.