Books Edited By Lourenza Adlem

Word Count: Click here to reveal37000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Jules Rose leads a quiet life working as a librarian. He’s happy to spend his spare time reading books and talking to his homicidal cat. What more could he wish for? But when his cozy Friday night is shattered by a friend request on his book community app, politeness gives him little choice but to accept. Jules doesn’t want to talk to anyone, but he can’t be rude. Besides, if he had to talk about something, books is the topic he’d pick. Phoenix Ford is dyslexic and avoids everything that has to do with the written word, but when the colleague he’s trying to impress calls him stupid, he decides to convince the other man, he’s mistaken. All he needs is the right book to make him look smart, a perfect balance between intelligent and short. And who better to ask for help than a guy who loves books so much, he labeled one boner-worthy on a book app? When Jules finds out Phoenix never has read a book from start to finish, he’s on a mission. He will find the right book, the book that will make Phoenix fall in love -- with reading. Phoenix’s plan might have been to listen to the book Jules picked for him to impress his colleague, but that was before he got to know him. Talking about books is a sure way to Jules’ heart, but is it enough for him to agree to go on a date?f

Word Count: Click here to reveal3471 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: This book is free. These two under-2k-word stories are bonus chapters for the Town Bronze novella trilogy. In these short scenes, two out of the three couples in the ensemble cast deepen their romances, together with the guest appearance of Nathan Brooks from Twelve Letters. Barney and Ross/Rose from Pantaloons and Petticoats, Book 2 in the series, snatch some precious time together at lunchtime in a busy coffeehouse. Then Jasper and Mortimer from Book 1, Town Bronze have their long-awaited chance for a happy ever after, away from the distractions of London and their friends' love lives.

Word Count: Click here to reveal58000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Devin Jace lives in a huge mansion together with six other people, five of them turn furry, and one needs to drink blood to survive. Sometimes, he suspects it's all a dream. Four years ago, he had no idea supernatural beings existed. It wasn’t until he was snatched off the street and forced to live as a blood slave he realized vampires are real and don’t sparkle. Three years ago, Mars O’Ceallaigh was part of the team who saved a badly scarred and severely traumatized Devin. As the only vampire on the team, he got to work undercover. To keep up the facade, he tasted Devin's blood. Not a day has gone by since without him thinking about it, both the taste of the blood and Devin. But he wants Devin to be happy, and since he knows vampires are his worst nightmare, he does his best to keep out of his way. When the team learns Devin's captor has escaped prison, Mars is convinced he will come for Devin. Devin might fear Mars, but there is someone he fears more, so when Mars swears to keep him safe, Devin trusts him. Mars more than enjoys being by Devin's side at all times, but will spending every minute of every day with him be enough to keep him safe?

Word Count: Click here to reveal22293 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: In Regency London, during the Season, after a brief and steamy courtship, the relationship between threesome Clem, Abe and Humphrey holds much promise. But their busy routines and different lifestyles, as a professional secretary, society gentleman and an official informant to the military, interfere with their burgeoning romance. Then sinister forces reappear to threaten their connection and even the life of one of the trio. Can these three band together to save the day and keep each other from peril? And given the chance, might they forge lasting happiness together?

Word Count: Click here to reveal27314 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: During the final week of February in 1808, Clement Metcalfe has a brief and heated encounter in the back room of a busy London coffee house with bashful gentleman Humphrey Atkinson. Clem, a private secretary, is accustomed to grabbing at random interludes to brighten his tedious and underpaid working days following a professional fall from grace. But Humphrey seems to hanker after more than one taste. So Clem introduces Humphrey to Abe Pengelly, the other semi-regular man in his life. Imposingly dark and dangerous, Abe is an enigmatic figure, with his operations based at the decaying and infamous Old Red Lion Tavern. His endeavours, if not blatantly lawless and criminal, are definitely murky. There’s an undeniable attraction between the three men that promises passion. However, Clem discovers that his lovers are also willing to exert themselves on his behalf to right past wrongs. Might this be a case where three is not a crowd but the perfect number?  

Word Count: Click here to reveal101000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Having a psychic ability should make life easier, but it isn't always the case. In this box set, you'll meet three men with amazing abilities that could've made their lives great, but instead of making things easier, they cause trouble. Either they have to hide what they can do, or they can't control it. But maybe there is happiness to be found even for an out-of-luck psychic? Contains the stories: How to Hook a Vampire: A vampire on guard. A psychic on the run. A cabin with one bed. Jameson trusted the wrong person and hides in his uncle's fishing cabin. Harland comes back after having fed only to find his home inhabited, and no one is happier than him that he didn't snack on the sleeping man when it turns out he’s his boss' nephew. But how long before danger finds them in the cabin? The Bear Claw: In a world where everyone is either dominant or submissive, Shiro doesn’t have many choices. As a sub, any dom coming to his bakery can give him orders. Pitch wants a mate, but he won’t settle for anything but a true mate. As an alpha shifter, he can have his pick, but his true mate is hiding in the kitchen of a bakery and refuses to see him. How many cups of coffee will it take to lure him out? Batshit Bassel: Some people perform miracles, others serve soup. Bassel is a psychic with no control over his powers. He'll never work wonders, but he can serve soup. Thor lost his sister and became the guardian of his nephew, but his life doesn't have room for a cub. Bassel aches for the little boy cloaked in grief and the growling bear he lives with, but will soup be enough to ease their sorrows?

Word Count: Click here to reveal23376 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Oliver Stoll’s life has gone up in smoke. Literally. Escaping an apartment fire, he’s made it out with little more than the clothes on his back and his best friend and downstairs neighbor, Mia. With few other options, he agrees to stay with David Elliston, Mia’s older brother. David was Oliver’s first crush, first kiss, first everything. That is, until the day they broke up five years before. It hadn’t been pretty. David Elliston is back in town. Offered the chance to oversee the Kellmen Group’s newest magazine acquisition, he isn’t going to let a years old heartbreak stop him. But being thrown together with Oliver is harder than expected. And the flicker of hope he’s long tried to bury becomes even more difficult to contain. Ex-lovers, best friends, and angry parents don’t make the best backdrop for rekindling a romance. But it’s the lies from the past that might just extinguish any chance they have of starting over.

Word Count: Click here to reveal24500 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Club 669 (House of Witches Book 1) Witch's corpse. Witch's ticket. Witch's party. As a counter-boy at a high-end men’s boutique, Charlie Jessup’s life consists of little more than work and sleep. That, and enough flirting to help guarantee his commission on sales will pay his rent. So when a twist of fate, and some behavior unbecoming that of a Ganymede employee, leaves him in possession of a dead man’s pass to a mysterious Club 669, Charlie has no desire to waste it. Every seventeen years, the House of Witches throws a party like no other. It’s invitation-only, and for centuries it has helped ensure peace between the covens. It’s the last place Caspian wants to be, but with the death of Queen Avel, and his own imminent rise to the throne, it’s more important than ever that he attends. The stability of the House depends on it. In four days a new king will be crowned, but when Charlie unintentionally crashes a gathering of the most secretive of all the Great Houses, he sets in motion a series of events that could disrupt the transition of power, and threaten the future of the House of Witches forever.

Word Count: Click here to reveal58000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A former blood slave. A talkative vampire. Dreams about canned goods.     Chaton Roux was rescued from a blood bar and taken to a gated community of supernaturals. For two years, he’s kept his head down and done his best to avoid people. The only time he finds peace is when he’s in the garden he shares with his best friend. They’re doing their best to grow as many vegetables as possible since the community is on the verge of starving.     Asher Blackmore knows he should keep his distance, but there is something about Chaton that always makes him want to push for more. Things would’ve been easier if he’d been a mayfly shifter, then he wouldn’t have a mouth and wouldn’t say stupid things all the time.     When the community’s business goes up in flames, the threat of starvation becomes all the more real, and Chaton does his best to come up with ways to preserve food to last them through winter. It’s hard labor, but what better way to deal with a chatty vampire than to drag him into the kitchen and put him to work?

Word Count: Click here to reveal7500 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: With one month to go before the neighborhood bookshop closes, temporary manager Evan is mostly concerned with balancing the needs of owner and customers. He’s delighted to meet novelist Simon, who drops in after finishing a book tour. They instantly connect. As Christmas approaches, Evan and Simon become friends, then lovers. They meet friends and family, beginning to think about a possible future together. New Year’s Eve is the bookshop’s last day. Will the next day be the start of that future?

Word Count: Click here to reveal13,223 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Findley Black knows a little something about serial killers. What he doesn’t know is why anyone would want to reenact a series of murders that took place more than ninety years ago, which he’s read a great deal about as part of his annual Halloween ghosts tours. Unless, of course, it’s not a copycat at all and the Reaper of Shivelly Park is back for vengeance. Owen Key never considered himself much for domesticity, but the last two years with his boyfriend Findley have him reevaluating his priorities. His family at The Printer’s Devil is growing, he has a new book on the way, and he wants nothing more than to make Findley an honest man. And what better time to pop the question than on Halloween, the second anniversary of their sort-of first date? But the night has other plans, and Findley and Owen will find themselves with something more pressing than a romantic evening. The ghost of the Shivelly Park Reaper is on the loose. But when no one believes them, they have no choice but to take matters into their own hands. Because, well ... the Reaper might just get away with it if not for Findley, Owen, and the kids. And Bella. You can’t forget the cat.

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

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

Summary: Sequel to There Will Be Aliens Brox was once a fierce warrior, but now his only job is to share his home with an alien. A human. All Forest Blue wanted was to go on a trip to Europe, not get kidnapped by aliens. He hadn’t even known aliens existed. Though, he guessed things could be worse. The huge devil lookalike he’s been given to hasn’t tried to eat him ... yet. Small favors. But would it cost him to smile now and then? Brox Scoreceds Cruul was once a fierce warrior, now demoted to take care of an alien. A few months back, the leading females had sent a ship to gather ten human females from their home planet in hopes of saving the Negudade people from extinction. Now a male has arrived on the planet, and the leading females have given him to Brox, since he has a language implant that allows him to understand humans. His assignment is to make the human thrive. How could anyone make a human thrive? The devils have the emotional depth of a shallow water puddle, but Brox feeds Forest and makes sure he has everything he needs. It’s not what Forest imagined his life to be, but when a creep starts following him around, Brox goes all snarly devil on his stalker. So maybe having an alien husband isn’t too bad?

Word Count: Click here to reveal10,717 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Some things are worth risking the naughty list. Jonah Newfeld is not someone men fall for at a glance. They have to get to know him first. So when he meets the perfect man, he knows he needs to play the long game. Nathan Sharp is the newest guy on the customer service floor. He’s clever, kind, blessedly single, and volunteers weekends at a local animal shelter. Jonah wants to raise babies with him. But when Nathan’s sister starts trying to fix him up with her veterinarian, Jonah’s plan is put into jeopardy. Jonah needs the perfect plan if he wants to win over the man of his dreams. But a terrible plan will have to do, and more than a little help from his friends. If Jonah can pull it off and manage to get the boy, it’ll be more than worth being put on Santa’s naughty list for good.

Word Count: Click here to reveal74,600 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: John Hancock Darrow left his North Carolina hometown after college. The only reason he’s there twenty-eight years later is to deal with estate business when his mother and sister are killed in an automobile crash. The realtor he chooses to list his mother’s B&B can’t make that hurt less, but he can help John forget it for a while. Small-town, self-employed, multiple job holding Daniel Washburn doesn’t expect more than after-dinner sex with the big-city lawyer. When the man turns up at the local ballroom studio a few days later, Daniel’s happy to dance with him. When they start working out an unusual deal for the B&B, they begin to feel like friends. Then during one of their many phone calls, John asks if he can take Daniel to dinner. John and Daniel keep finding reasons to stay in touch. Then to be lovers. Then to get married. It’s a convenience, John says. Daniel knows it’s more. But John’s ten years older, successful, the kind of man who owns a million-dollar New York City condo and can afford to give away a house. If he wants Daniel on any terms, he surely has his reasons. Daniel’s willing to wait for the right moment to put that convenience nonsense to rest. Because he’s got his own reasons, and the truth will set them free.

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

Summary: Zale wanted to see a dragon. He never expected a miracle. Zale Hagan is dying. He doesn't have many days left, but he wants to see a dragon before he leaves the world behind. As a fisherman, he's seen where land ends many times, but he wants to visit the town where the human realm ends and the dragon realm begins. Albus the Abomination is a blacksmith on Dragon Row. As a white dragon, he has no status and does his best to keep out of the way of the other dragons living there. But one day Zale steps into his smithy, and everything inside Albus catches fire. Albus can tell Zale is very ill, but he can't let him die. Dragon mates don't get sick, and they live for a long time. Albus tries his best to get one of the other dragons to mate with Zale, but when no one wants to, Albus is at a loss. He could breathe fire into him, but then Zale would have to live his entire life with a white dragon, and no one wants that, do they? NOTE: Mated to the Fire Dragon takes place on the same street as The Book Dragon’s Lair but can be read as a standalone story.

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

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

Summary: Celebrate World Naked Gardening Day with five gay romance novellas! The Naked Gardening Day stories are a collaboration between Holly Day, Nell Iris, A.L. Lester, K.L. Noone, and Amy Spector. They comprise five MM romance novellas featuring being naked in a garden somehow, somewhere, to mark World Naked Gardening Day on the first Saturday of May. Contains the stories: Perfect Rows by Holly Day: Everything would've been perfect if Grayson hadn't been forced to share his garden with Cam. Grayson wants to grow vegetables, and he has a plan for how to do it. Cam loves flowers in perfect rows, but Grayson is incapable of growing things in lines. Most days end in conflict, at least until Grayson realizes he can shut Cam up by kissing him. But will they ever be able to agree about the garden? Strike a Pose by Nell Iris: Didrik would do anything for his BFF Filip, including taking naked pictures for a charity calendar of his dad Johan, the stunning man responsible for Didrik’s gay awakening. Now a widower, Johan is ready to move on. As they start the project, the attraction between them grows. Their connection is easy, but not without challenges. Will they get their happily ever after? The Death of Digby Catch by Amy Spector: When August Catch arrives at the Arachne’s Loom estate to collect his late Uncle Digby’s things, he is thrown together with Theo Webb, the heir to the Webb family fortune. The attraction is instant. When Theo begins to suspect Digby may have been murdered, he and August will need to work together to discover the killer, and not let the thing growing between them be a distraction. The Hermit of Aldershill Manor by K.L. Noone: Charlie’s ready to start a new job and life at Aldershill Manor. As a historian, he’s thrilled to dive into the archives. And he can run from a messy break-up. And explore lovely gardens, too. Lionel does not like tourists, conversations, or social niceties. But he loves his job: helping beauty grow. When he finds the new historian caught in a storm, he offers shelter, which might bloom into more. Warning! Deep Water by A.L. Lester: Spring 1947. England has just come through the worst winter in living memory. Peter’s been drifting since he left the army a year ago. George is lonely, despite the busy horticultural nursery he owns. Peter’s decision to take a swim in the irrigation tank presents them both with the chance to reach out and help each other. Can two misfits find a way to fit together with someone after all?

Word Count: Click here to reveal11200 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: At going-on-fifty, patent filing specialist Santo is the recently divorced single dad to a sixteen-year-old with Broadway ambitions. He’s thrilled to learn his new co-worker Martin is close to his age, also gay, and also a single dad. At the very least, they might turn into good work friends. Before many weeks pass, Santo and Martin are much more than work friends. Their teenagers, who go to the same high school, quickly bond. Having school and workplace in common takes a lot of the juggling out of trying to date in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Santo’s support helps Martin cope as an adoptive father to a niece still grieving her parents. He’s creating a new version of himself for this role. Will his turbulent entry into parenthood open a door to a future full of love?

Word Count: Click here to reveal50000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Rufus will do anything not to remain staked in a coffin, including stealing a psychic and forming a blood bond with him. Rufus Mabuz was a badass assassin until his coven leader had him staked and stored away in a coffin for seven years. He was still a badass assassin, only he couldn’t move. Then one day, the coven leader makes him an offer – bond with a psychic or stay in the coffin for years to come. Jaki Sage is kept prisoner together with a group of psychics. He’s a psychic too, but a crappy one. He can’t foresee anything. The only thing he can do is look back in time to see what the weather was like around a certain event. Not useful. But then his friend, who can foresee things, tells him to go with Rufus the Dead. Rufus isn’t sure why he’s stealing a psychic and forming a blood bond with him, but anything is better than being staked. Jaki might not know much about vampires, but he thinks he’s better off with Rufus than if he hadn’t run away with him. But then the coven leader demands he uses his skills to find someone, or she’ll put Rufus back in the coffin. How will Jaki be able to find anyone when all he can see is weather?

Word Count: Click here to reveal19,936 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Wyatt Calder is trapped -- in a rundown neighborhood, in a dead-end job, by the endless string of trouble his brother drags to their door -- and it seems he’s destined to slowly fade away within the aging walls of Picket House, longing for his neighbor. That is, until his upstairs neighbor Abel Walters dies on the staircase just outside Wyatt’s door. Saalik has spent most of his existence asleep and waiting for the next person to discover his bottle and claim their wishes. And the last four years playing prized possession to Abel Walters and spying on the downstairs neighbors. But he has a plan. And, like every plan worth planning, it has taken patience. But if life as a Jinn has taught Saalik nothing else, it’s taught him that. When a break-in sends Wyatt out his second-story bedroom window and into his dead upstairs neighbor’s apartment, he finds more than a place to hide. He discovers a magical solution to all his troubles. Or does he? Because really, when is life ever that simple?

Word Count: Click here to reveal51000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Detective Thaddeus Ezax is in over his head. He’s the only wizard in Rockshade’s Paranormal Investigations Department, and it was his name that got him the job. The Ezaxs are known as some of the most powerful wizards in the world, but Thaddeus isn’t your average Ezaxs. Is it any wonder his family shuns him? When a kidnapping case is dropped into his lap, Thaddeus must act fast. While most five-year-olds can cast a location spell, Thaddeus can't and is forced to get creative. When he finds himself in possession of a black market werewolf skull with a ghost trapped inside, accidentally releases the spirit, and somehow forms a connection with it, things get even crazier. Sandulf Hunter doesn’t remember dying, but he remembers the last thing he saw before everything went black—a wizard. All wizards must die! The only problem is, the wizard standing next to him smells too damned good, so good Sandy thinks he might have to keep him. And since wherever Thaddeus goes, Sandulf finds himself yanked along, he might not have a choice in the matter anyway.