contemporary

Word Count: Click here to reveal70000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Gallery owner Jace Townsend loves his tiny hometown of Pineapple Grove, deep in South Florida. His life is filled with sunshine, blue skies, jogging on the beach with his dog, and the greatest friends a guy could want. What more could he ask for? Love would be a great start. After his last relationship fell apart, Jace has begun to wonder if he’s ever going to find someone who would fit into his quiet life. Of course, the last person who would fit into his life is a major movie star. Trent Elrige is drowning. He’s constantly on the go from one movie obligation to the next. And after the last stalker got a little too close for comfort, Trent decides it’s time to take a step back and figure out what he’s doing with his life. Pineapple Grove seemed the perfect spot to hide for six months and figure out his future. He just wasn’t expecting to be tackled by love so quickly. But now that he’s found Jace, is he willing to risk everything he’s worked so hard for? And is Jace willing to walk away from his precious Pineapple Grove to be with Trent?

Word Count: Click here to reveal317000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: For the first time, the entire Lonely Hearts Series is available in one box set. Including never before published epilogues for each of the four stories and a bonus short story, Time to Play. His Kind of Love Joel Reading is lonely, and Gabriel Hunter has been waiting years for the right man. The Colors Between Us Roland Wilson is a haunted man, and Adonis Smith wants something he can't have. Love Comes After Bennet James's world is imploding, Aiden Hennessey is devastated, and Chris Wheeler doesn't do emotions. Until You Say Otherwise Richard Harrington is tired of saying goodbye, and Sam Sanders is determined. TIme to Play Athena Smith is ready for her time in the spotlight with Wesley and Grant.

Word Count: Click here to reveal185,440 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: FROM POPULAR GAY ROMANCE AUTHOR HELENA STONE The Dublin Virtues series – a box set Patience Patience is a virtue. But what if you wait too long? While Xander Ekman’s dream of becoming a successful artist has come true, his love life has gone from bad to worse. Sick of the endless string of one-night stands, he accepts the challenge when his best friend, Erik, bets him that he can’t be celibate for a month. Now all he needs is a reminder to keep his distance in the heat of the moment. Troy Moriarty doesn’t have time for love. He’s too busy trying to keep his recently opened tattoo parlor afloat. Besides, ever since the man who was supposed to be his business partner abandoned him to run the shop on his own, he has a hard time trusting others. When Xander turns to Troy for a tattoo that will remind him to be patient, the attraction is instant. But faced with Xander’s month of celibacy, Troy’s trust issues, and a nemesis lurking in the background, their relationship may be doomed before it has a chance to begin. Equality Love is love. But what if the fight for equality gets in the way of building a relationship? Lorcan Barrett has never considered himself relationship material. After his parents made it perfectly clear they’d never welcome a partner of his into their home, he learned to love his own company and now can’t imagine sharing his life with another. After a single passionate kiss with Eric Kavanagh—the night before he travels to Canada for three months—Lorcan’s no longer sure he wants to be on his own. The problem is, he has no idea what sharing his life with someone else might entail. Eric Kavanagh grew up in a loving and supportive family and had always assumed he’d end up in a committed relationship. Sure that he’s found the one, Eric doesn’t worry about the fact that Lorcan has no experience when it comes to love and relationships. They are good together, so what could possibly go wrong? When both men get involved in the marriage equality referendum in Ireland, it appears to bring them even closer together, until Lorcan’s insecurities get the upper hand and he shuts Eric out. Will the fight for a Yes vote cost them their relationship, or will they be able to find a balance between the love they share and the need for equality? Renewal When everything changes, can renewal bring redemption? Shane Boyle left Dublin for America, burning most of his bridges, certain his future lay in Florida. When a family crisis forces him back to the city he grew up in, he knows his life will never be the same again. With his sister close to death, his mother and five-year-old nephew Danny need him not just to be around but also to be the rock they can depend on. Torn between panic about his new responsibilities and despair at his impending loss, love and a relationship are the last thing on his mind. Chris Anderson left Australia for Dublin ten years ago with no intention of ever going back. For reasons he can’t explain, even to himself, he hasn’t been in a relationship for almost as long as he’s been in Ireland. Now thirty-five years old, he wonders what happened to his dream of a lasting bond and a family to call his own. When Shane and Chris hook up one night in a pub, neither knows that the next day they’ll meet again, this time as colleagues in a tattoo parlour. Chris has no idea about Shane’s dodgy past and Shane can’t figure out the mountain of a man who refuses to take no for an answer. Having to reinvent his whole life is only the start of Shane’s process of renewal. Will Chris turn out to be his savior or his downfall?

Word Count: Click here to reveal3588 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Max Futé lost his license to practice medicine when he assisted someone he loved to die. His only chance of working again is to join up with Prinzip, an anti-terrorist organization in Paris. He manages to subvert the madmen running Prinzip and save numerous lives. Among those is WBIS agent Charles Browne, with whom he falls in love. When the organization is taken down and they’re rescued, Max is brought to the US to work for the WBIS. Browne invites Max to move in with him, and the little French doctor thinks all his dreams have come true. Unfortunately, Browne is a commitment-phobe, and sees Max as nothing more than a convenient body. Will Max stay with him? Or will he cut his losses and find someone who will love him as he deserves? Note: This short story was originally published in the charity collection, Love Is Proud.

Word Count: Click here to reveal36000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A stolen Christmas present brings together two strangers who long for hearth and home at the holidays.   It's mere days before Christmas when the gift Clayton intends to give to his nephew, an antique Bowie knife and hand-beaded sheath, is stolen. Clayton must track them down before Christmas morning. A lost & found ad is posted for the Christmas knife's safe return, bringing scammers crawling out of the woodwork who only want the reward. That is, until Clayton gets a call from a man named Kyle, who says he just wants to return the knife and sheath to Clayton, and he doesn't want the reward. Is it just another scam or can Clayton trust him? Clayton takes a risk and heads to Kyle's house to pick up the Christmas knife. Over the phone, Kyle's voice becomes Clayton's only beacon as he makes his way through a whiteout blizzard. After a long drive across the prairies during a raging, pre-Christmas winter storm, will Clayton find more than what he is looking for? Contemporary m/m romance, holiday blizzard, fireplace kisses, lost presents, long drives, family, contemporary, sweet, HEA.

Word Count: Click here to reveal30331 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Phillip Hapner was smart and good looking. He just had one problem. He liked to gamble, trouble was he wasn’t very good at it. Now, he was trying to stay alive and convince the leader of the underground gambling syndicate, that he didn’t know who was in charge. Well, he did have one other problem, Malachi Brady. The cop who was protecting him. Phillip wanted him, even though he knew the man was straight.   Malachi Brady had accepted that his brother was gay. He believed everyone was intitled to love whom they wanted. He knew he wasn’t gay, but he was feeling things for Phillip Hapner he’d never felt before. When he was assigned to protect Phillip, the sexual tension between them exploded. Could he figure out what was going on in his head and his body and who was behind the gambling syndicate in Atlanta.   The people who worked at the Knights Club are a family. And like any family, there are times when things just don’t go right.

Word Count: Click here to reveal10000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: What happens when your long-buried crush can't stay hidden any longer? Cassie is home from college for the holidays, and with a big family, she's not in the mood to crash at home. Being single after two years of accepting her boyfriend's proposal, she didn't want to deal with all the questions. When Neilie offers her guest room, she jumps at the offer. She hadn't spent enough time with her brother's best friend while away, and she's missed the older woman. The only problem is being in close quarters with Neilie showed her that her teenage crush wasn't a thing of the past. Could Neilie see her as more than the annoying girl she once was and accept her as the woman she'd grown to be?

Word Count: Click here to reveal121000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: It’s worth fighting for the love of a lifetime. Liam Macadam is a twenty-two-year-old recent college graduate starting law school. He’s a man with a broken heart who is wondering if the best answer might be working 24/7 and having anonymous hookups to keep him sane. John Lawrence is a forty-year-old former music professor who is attending law school to fulfill a longtime dream. His sixteen-year relationship is over, and John wonders if the opportunity for love has passed him by. When Liam and John meet on the first day of school, sparks fly and imaginations go wild. They fall in love quickly and realize that they’re meant for each other. Then someone interferes, and things go terribly wrong. Old fears surface, one of the men leaves, and the other goes after him. Will a transatlantic chase be enough to restore their love of a lifetime? This sizzling tale is chock-full of flirtation, romance, angst, and adventure—not to mention plenty of steam and a very happy ending.

Word Count: Click here to reveal29057 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: When Jules Evergreen lands in trouble at the North Pole and gets shipped off to Snow Hope Island for ninety days, he never expects to take up the cause of the forgotten toys waiting for new homes. Falling for his new boss is not on the agenda either, but his heart has other ideas. Felix Winterson has grown up on Snow Hope Island and now runs the place. He isn’t thrilled when party boy Jules arrives, and Felix tries hard to ignore the man’s charms. He has other problems, anyway. For years he’s tried to get Santa to look at the growing inventory of damaged toys in the warehouse, to no avail. When Jules comes up with a plan to save the toys, the men find themselves working closely together. As Christmas Eve looms, there’s a lot at stake. Can they save Snow Hope, convince Santa to rescue the toys, and fall in love all at the same time?

Word Count: Click here to reveal83,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Having a successful bakery and cake decorating business was everything Chef Jos wanted, or so he thought. Until he was confronted with a past he’d hoped to forget. Finn Leighton has been granted the chance of a lifetime. To compete on Cake Clash, a reality cooking show with a cash prize that would help make his dreams come true and allow him to make his small business the bakery of his dreams. Little does Finn know that one of the celebrity judges is his lost love, Josiah. When they’re faced with their past, both men realize there’s little point in denying their feelings. Elated with seeing Josiah again, he’s tempted by him, but also needs to focus on winning the competition. Caught on the set of a fast-paced show together, they’ll both need to decide if love is worth fighting for this time.

Word Count: Click here to reveal21534 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Josh has stepped back into the closet for a guy, but how long can he stay there? Life in a college town suits Josh Cassidy. He has good friends and neighbors, and the bookshop café he runs with his family is thriving. As the winter holidays begin, Josh finds himself enamored with police officer Alex Curiel, an old friend who has recently moved back to town. The trouble is, Alex isn’t ready for the world to know he’s attracted to men. At Alex’s request, Josh agrees to closet their relationship, though the secrecy quickly becomes a burden. When Josh realizes he is falling for Alex, his ability to hide his feelings from the world begins to slip, and he’s forced to decide if love is enough to keep him hiding behind closed doors. A Hometown Holiday is a 21.5K sex-buddies-to-lovers MM novella. It features a bookshop owner with a fondness for jazz music, a closeted cop who could be Mr. Right if only he’d give himself a chance, and the warm, fuzzy HEA that both guys deserve.

Word Count: Click here to reveal91,0000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: The bigger you become, the harder you fall. Sebastian Saunders is a rising rock star. Jay Ruttman is a Premier League football player. Their year-long relationship is hot commodity. Hounded by the press and fans alike, the lovers struggle to keep their private lives private. Flying high in the charts and having Jay by his side, Seb is finally living his dream. But Jay’s new, promising career is threatened when a horrific injury on the pitch has him side lined—not only in the game but also in his relationship with Seb. Jay’s crippling self-destruction spirals out of control, tearing them apart. To move forward, both men must learn to leave their past behind—not so easy when it keeps coming back to haunt them. Can their hard-fought relationship survive the ultimate test? This is the concluding part to the District Line series where the full-time whistle could signal an end to their turbulent journey… or is it just the beginning?

Word Count: Click here to reveal18600 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Rio and Caden have been together for a few years now. It’s a rare weekend they get to spend alone. When Rio suggests they get away to Tahoe for the weekend a few weeks before Christmas, Caden is too excited to even think of saying no. They start their trip and even though they think they’ve planned for every emergency, they can’t control what Mother Nature has in store for them. When the car in front of them spins out in the newly fallen snow, they stop to help and soon find out that Caden’s not as alone in this world as he had originally thought. A few more planned surprises make for a special weekend for these hard-working guys who really deserve a weekend getaway.

Word Count: Click here to reveal22000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Javier Fernandez is a climate scientist living in a research station near the South Pole. Since his husband was killed in a car crash, he’s preferred to be alone, and is less than thrilled to have a junior scientist thrust upon him by his rich patron. Col Steele is a trans man fleeing a bad break-up. He is ready for the next step in his career, and eager to spend Christmas anywhere but at home. When a crack in the ice separates the two men from safety, they are forced to come to terms with their own losses and each other. About the Escape From the Holidays series: For the second year in a row, Mischief Corner Books is putting out a winter holiday collection – ten stories revolving around various December holidays: The end of year holidays can get overwhelming for anyone. Things to do. People to see. Last minute work obligations to take care of. Sometimes it’s just easier to escape from it all, running away from the responsibilities and expectations, or ignore the underlying disappointment from relatives who don’t see eye-to-eye with you. Because escaping the holiday grind can lead to new, unexpected paths, and breathe new life into one that’s been stuck in a rut. Giving something to run to instead. Sometimes, getting away from it all lets you know what you really have. Sometimes, taking a chance on the unknown leads to what you really want.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: It’s never too late for a second chance at love… or is it? Rayne Sadler left the tiny town of Holiday Pines and his childhood sweetheart, Emilio Rives, to make a name for himself in the world of interior design. For twelve years, he never looked back. Now he has the successful career he wanted, but no one to share his life. Emilio isn’t happy when Rayne returns to Holiday Pines to renovate the local playhouse. The town wants to stimulate the failing tourist industry, but Emilio has no interest in reviving the ashes of his relationship with Rayne. Yet shared memories and experiences are powerful things. As the playhouse is restored to its former glory, the friendship between Rayne and Emilio slowly returns as well, and their chemistry is as powerful as ever. Rayne has designs on Emilio’s heart, and he sets out to prove it. Will the magic of Christmas thaw Emilio’s heart, or will it remain as cold as mountain snow?

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: A few days before Christmas, David Weathers finds himself hopping a plane to his childhood home in Florida and doesn’t know why. His parents are gone, he has no siblings, yet something draws him on. David can almost feel the magic in the air, but then he discovers Jared Acosta, the man who broke his heart twenty years earlier, has moved three doors away. Reluctantly David accepts Jared’s invitation to dinner, only to find that twenty years may not be enough for some wounds to heal. Soon David seeks advice from his mother’s best friend Marisol, a vibrant, wise woman who believes in second chances. Can she convince David to take a chance on the man who is working so hard to be near him now? Will he be able to forgive a past that left both him and Jared unlucky in love?

Word Count: Click here to reveal5200 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Oliver volunteers for Crisis at Christmas to help the homeless. The last thing he expects is that he'll meet someone.

Word Count: Click here to reveal21000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: The Australian bush. A Christmas with friends. A chance to mend a broken heart. Steve Hayes is spending Christmas break away with a group of friends. He's determined to put his two-timing ex-boyfriend in the past and enjoy his week away. Steve is equally terrified and happily surprised to find that Corey Oh, the guy he’s been admiring from afar, has been invited along too. But Steve knows there's no way someone as wonderful as Corey, who could have any man he wanted, would be interested in him. Can a misadventure with a Christmas pudding help Steve's dreams come true? Note: This is a re-release. The original story has been re-edited and expanded by the addition of a 5k word epilogue.

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

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

Summary: Patrick and David are friends who run a gay bookstore, and life seems simple and safe enough until the day when unexpectedly he walks in – six feet tall, gorgeous and built like a dream. But Homosapien isn’t welcome in their world; he’s a professional wrestler, and everything he does is fake. So he can’t really be gay, can he, or interested in either one of them? Can they even trust a single word he says … ?

Word Count: Click here to reveal5618 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary:

Gavin and Matthew just want to get home to enjoy Christmas Eve in their safe, warm apartment. Should they walk or take a cab? But will either option do the trick when Victor, suffering from his holiday blahs, is determined to undermine this happy twosome at every turn?

Years ago, Victor made the unfortunate mistake of coming out to his family on Christmas. Why couldn’t he have picked a random summer day? Can Victor’s husband Bryan pull him out of his gloomy mood in order to give the popular Gavin and Matthew the merry Christmas they deserve?

Keywords: writer with holiday blahs/blues killing off characters...or not, Christmas, fun sweaters, short story, supportive family