Contemporary Genre

Word Count: Click here to reveal13700 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Seven queer stories about our favourite literary figures. Lord Byron encounters a gorgeous ghost in Verona. An author seeks to share her truths. Feste discusses love and revenge. Oscar Wilde discovers more than he expected in a deep Colorado mine. La Belle Dame sans Merci shares her perspective. An engineer is astonished to find a lost manuscript in an old cellar. While Virginia Woolf contemplates peace during another world war…

Word Count: Click here to reveal16700 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Benny Schneider has lived in Las Vegas for a lot of years, working in medical billing for the past fifteen. In February 2021, he runs into new friend Dorian Weathers at the supermarket and they start a conversation that goes in some unexpected directions. Dori’s seen a lot during his years of working as a hospital orderly, but hit the wall after eight months of coping with a pandemic. Now staying with a longtime friend, he’s been offered a free apartment in Los Angeles and help with tuition to level up his career. When Benny offers a room in his own house instead, Dori gets a vision of what might be possible. By the end of that first conversation, it’s clear they’ll be housemates with benefits. Over the months that follow, they grow closer. Benny’s twenty years older and he’s been through a change that even most of his friends don’t know about. Before long, Dori wants everything Benny is, was, and ever will be. With the support of their friends and the freedom of drag, they’re determined to embrace a new change. Can they carry it into the future along with everything else they are?

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: The most important being in Edelweiss Grove is getting married. Rorik Eskildsen is marrying his beloved Boden. Not wanting to delay things any longer the happy couple annouce the wedding date and it's just twelve days away. Rorik has hired one of the two best wedding planners in The Grove, Elf Freddie Keller. Unbeknown to him, Boden has hired the other one: Nymph Valentino Aldredge. With so little time ahead of them, the marital couple suggest the planners work together. There's just one problem. Freddie and Valentino used to be partners - in business and in love. Eight years ago, to please his mother, Valentino left Freddie to marry Tybalt. They haven't seen each other since the day Freddie rejected Valentino's offer to set him up as his lover. Neither of them has forgotten the other. And Freddie, certainly has not forgiven. Can they put their pain and anger behind them and pull of the most important wedding in Grove history? Will Valentino find the courage to finally tell Freddie the truth - and convince him, he's worthy of a second chance?

Word Count: Click here to reveal29672 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: It wasn’t supposed to be REAL! Bigfoot doesn’t actually exist. Yetis, shifters, creatures of the night…none of those exist. Right? Right? There’s nothing about perky—some might even say twinkie—Oliver Hughes that would make a skeptic like Sensational News’ (Never Fake! We Swear!) reporter Wilson Banks think otherwise. But while pursuing soundbites for a tabloid story about Bigfoot, Wilson witnesses something he wasn’t meant to see. In Wilson’s new reality, is there room for love with someone whose dreams are as big as his…er…feet? This fun novella has a paranormal twist, a hint of mystery, and a flavorful dollop of romantic comedy. Mix it all together for a satisfying HEA! Keywords: shifter, Bigfoot, comedy, fun, California, mystery, twink, reporter, tabloid Weekend at Bigfoot’s won 1st place in the Gay Paranormal Romance category and was a 4th tier runner up in the combined Best Gay Book category of the 2020-2021 Rainbow Awards!

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Wyatt and Talbot Smothers have a full life, a successful cattle ranch and weight-loss camp, and lots of love to share. They have their son, Calvin, who is nearly grown, and plenty of changes at the ranch to keep them busy. Everything is great, but there is a member of the family who isn’t there to share in the good fortune. Wyatt wants to fix the broken relationship with his brother, Richard, but first, he has to find him and convince him to come home. If he does, what problems will Ricky bring with him? Is it too late to salvage the strained bond the brothers have shared over a lifetime? Talbot Andrews has worked hard to overcome his food and body image issues, and he’s ready to take on something he wants more than anything… children. He and his cowboy have decided to embark on the journey of having children together, but how bumpy will that road become and how successful will they be? What makes a family? Is it blood or is it the love they share? Is it true that love expands to encompass everyone who enters Tal’s life… even Rick Smothers, the homophobic brother of the man who Talbot wants for a lifetime? Please Note: This work of fiction is approximately 87,000 words in length and doesn’t end in a cliffhanger. I hope you enjoy it.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: What happens when Wyatt’s past comes riding back into Ridge Hills, and she isn’t alone? Wyatt’s world begins spinning out of control, but will he make the mistake of keeping the weight solely on his shoulders as he’s done all his life? Will life ever slow down and allow Wyatt to laugh with the blond he wants to be his future… His forever? Talbot Andrews has lost weight thanks to hard work and lessons learned at the Circle S Ranch but getting his mind to catch up to his changing body is the tricky part. When Wyatt’s past comes roaring into the present, will the news send Tal back to the pantry to find comfort the only way he’s ever known? Will Tal allow his newfound confidence to leave him in the thick, Texas dust? Now that love has found Wyatt Smothers and Talbot Andrews, how will the couple traverse the path of making a life together? TRIGGER WARNING: This book deals with sensitive issues associated with weight-loss struggles, body image, and self-acceptance. There is also a brief, though not detailed, reference to child sexual abuse. If any of these issues are a trigger, please proceed with caution.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: What happens when love shows up in an unexpected package? What’s more important… the love or the form it takes? Wyatt Smothers is a retired rodeo bronc rider who runs the Circle S Ranch with his family. Ranching is hard work, and successful ranching is even harder. Donna Jo, the oldest of the siblings, lands on her next great idea to keep the ranch afloat—a weight loss camp at The Circle S, which is the last thing Wyatt wants to hear. After a family vote, the camp idea is a go. Everyone at the ranch pitches in to make it a success, but in the process of planning, Wyatt reads an essay from a potential camper—U-4-NY—that touches something inside him. Will he still feel the same way when he set eyes on U-4-NY? o-0-o Talbot Andrews isn’t living his best life: twenty-seven, living in his parents’ basement, and struggling with the way he looks. He writes lies—a weight loss blog—which is his best work of fiction to date. Bragging about the fun activities he undertakes to help with his weight loss quest doesn’t equate to pounds lost. An advertisement on a food blog catches his eye and something inside him clicks. Losing weight on a working cattle ranch is like a fairytale come true, so he applies and decides to be totally honest with himself and on his application for the first time in a long time, embarrassment be damned. An email from W. Smothers of Smothers Ranch sparks something inside, and Tal’s goals finally become clear: go to Texas, lose the weight, meet the cowboy, and hopefully, live his happily ever after. Was it too much for a man to ask? TRIGGER WARNING: This book deals with sensitive issues associated with weight-loss, body image, and self-acceptance. If any of these things are triggers, please proceed the caution.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Wyatt Smothers, a beat-up, retired rodeo bronc rider, runs the family ranch with his brother and sister. Talbot Andrews, an overweight freelance writer, isn’t living his best life in the basement of his parents’ home. When these two meet, neither will ever be the same. “Weighting for Love”—Book 1 The Circle S Ranch becomes the home of a weight-loss camp, much to the chagrin of Wyatt Smothers. Talbot Andrews sees the camp as his last shot before he gives up on himself completely. What happens when love shows up in an unexpected package? What’s more important… the love or the form it takes? “Weighting for Laughter”—Book 2 Now that love has found Wyatt Smothers and Talbot Andrews, how will the couple traverse the path of making a life together that is filled with laughter?

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Five years ago, everything went wrong. Braden Kirk and Rafe Jessen’s long-term relationship started unraveling. They stopped talking, fears mounted, then Braden walked in on Rafe and another man, completely misreading the situation. Without giving Rafe a chance to explain, Braden walks out. Out of their home, their relationship, and the game development company they started together in college. After months of therapy to deal with the attempted rape Braden walked in on, Rafe begins to understand that his dominant tendencies in the bedroom aren’t a bad thing and that Braden’s submission is likely what scared his partner into silence. But Rafe isn’t ready to let go of the man he loves more than life itself. He arranges for himself and Braden to end up on the same charity cruise, knowing Braden won’t let his phobia—terror of vast, deep waters—rule him. With a plan and twenty-eight days, Rafe is determined to get Braden back, make him see there’s nothing wrong with being submissive, and find a way to get Braden to stay with him when they get home to LA.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Best friends fall in love. What are they going to do about it? Cayo Suárez, who is gay, and Ben Roth, an admitted Oblivious Straight Guy, were roommates in law school, but two years after graduating, they have lost touch. After an accidental meeting, Cayo invites Ben to stay with him while Ben looks for his own apartment. There’s only one complication, but it’s a big one—Cayo has been in love with Ben since they met. What begins as a heartwarming reunion of old friends heats up quickly, and Ben starts to wonder if he’s as straight as he always thought he was. Cayo and Ben reconnect in a most unexpected way, but their jobs complicate things. Cayo works for low-income people at Legal Assistance, and Ben works for the man. When Ben and Cayo become involved in a controversial case, powerful people with a lot to lose seize control of the situation. They want to bend the case’s outcome to their own nefarious ends, and they’ll destroy anyone who tries to stand up to them. Will Cayo and Ben find a way to save Ben’s career, and their budding relationship, before it’s too late? What He Really Needs is an action-packed book full of warmth and humor, a first-time bisexual awakening, a healthy dose of suspense, steamy sexy times, and an extraordinarily happy ending.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Can he find love with a man younger than his son? Judge Jefferson Hart is hoping for a relaxed summer off while babysitting his grandson. Instead, a captivating young man reads him the riot act about leaving the boy in incapable hands. While Jeff isn’t used to anyone chastising him, the way the man goes about it ignites a dormant longing inside him. Iggy Sampson has a to-do list a mile long: Take the law school admission test. Find an acceptable school that will give him a scholarship to avoid a crippling amount of student loan debt. Get over the guy who gave him his first kiss and then humiliated him at the tender age of fifteen. Shrieks outside his temporary home aren’t on that list, but how can he not help the boy cradling his arm? What he hadn’t counted on was the boy’s attractive grandfather. Fireworks have nothing on the crackling between them. Their attraction grows more every day, bridging the age gap and the fifty yards separating them. But can they give in to their desires without losing their loved ones in the process? What the Heart Wants is a contemporary age-gap MM romance featuring a hard-working student who’s not afraid to speak his mind, a hot judge who isn’t looking for a new love, and an adorable six-year-old who will melt your heart.

Word Count: Click here to reveal38442 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Secrets destroy lives. Dishonesty ruins relationships. Keston, Qier, Raheim and Izzy are four gay best friends who grew up together in Miami, Florida. Even though the four friends are away at college in two Florida cities, they remain as tight as ever, or so they pretend. While they claim they keep nothing from each other, each friend has a dark secret that threatens the relationships they cherish the most. Qier, a college football star who’s destined for the NFL, has one of the most damaging secrets of them all. He’s afraid if his secret is exposed, he might have to leave the country. He’s determined to do everything in his power to keep his secret, a secret. The game changes when Qier’s most hated enemy, college basketball star Phoenix Cummings, resurfaces. Phoenix poses a direct threat to Qier’s livelihood—in more ways than one. This relationship is a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode. In the opening entry of a nine-book short story series, the ground work for an intricate web full of secrets, lies, jealously and crime will begin to tangle right before your eyes. Don’t be fooled—everything isn’t always as it seems.

Word Count: Click here to reveal31,490 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: On his thirtieth birthday, barista Jimmy Patterson decides to get rip-roaring drunk after his roommate-boyfriend abandons him at a bar in the tiny California foothills town of Stone Acres where they have relocated from San Francisco. Jimmy is immediately rescued by the burly owner of Stonewall Saloon, who has had his eye on Jimmy since the first time he came in months before. Jimmy's fine with being saved but wants to know the bartender's real name since the guy has worn name tags with an assortment of names every time Jimmy has spoken to him. After Jimmy nicknames him Guy, the bartender decides to turn guessing his first name into a game, giving Jimmy a guess a day for a week and promising to wine and dine him during that time. If Jimmy's guess is wrong, he owes Guy a zing-zow, knock-your-socks-off kiss. Jimmy agrees since this sounds like a slam-dunk, win-win deal. While he searches for cringe-worthy given names, Jimmy is distracted by the destruction of his shopping mall coffee shop. He is also beset by the town council that doesn't want him to buy an historic bank building in Old Town Stone Acres to set up another coffee shop. The celestial high of being romanced by Guy and the abyss of business worries don't seem like the road to happily ever after. However, Jimmy and Guy might be in for a big surprise.

Word Count: Click here to reveal128000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: You can never judge an academic book by its cover. Simon Dyson, a quiet assistant professor, is a man of hidden depths. To the world he presents as a harmless, innocuous, shy and retiring intellectual. However, the man who lurks behind that public persona is far more interesting … and dangerous … and driven. 'Wheelchair' is a slow-burn contemporary psychological crime thriller about a man who suffers from both OCD and PTSD, a man who is unwittingly caught up in a cross-border war between rival crime gangs—a conflict that almost leads to his death, and more than once. It's a study of compulsion and of disability, and of the many faces of emotional dependence and sexual compulsion. It’s about how some men cannot just love or make love because their hearts or their bodies lead them to it, but who can only connect emotionally and physically through self-imposed rituals which involve struggle or self-abasement.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: When his lover Jason’s drug addiction spiraled out of control, TV celebrity chef and cookbook author Adam de Leon walked away from him. Adam also abandoned his renowned restaurant in San Francisco to start a small bistro in the Sierra Foothills. Five years later Adam is battling the conservative leaders of Stone Acres, California, to open a new restaurant in historic Old Town when Jason turns up on his doorstep—a recovered Jason, now going by the name David and claiming he's overcome his addictions. What’s more, he begs Adam to take him back and says he’s ready for their happily ever after. Adam has enough on his plate with problems plaguing the opening of his restaurant. And now he’s having a hard time deciding which to follow—his head or his heart. Rainbow Award Honorable Mention book 2016.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Daddies are supposed to be fierce and strong. Protectors of their boys. But what happens when Daddy is the one who needs taken care of? Stupid, unwritten rules. Pfft. Who came up with them anyway? Daddy needs me now more than ever and I’m gonna be there for him just like he’s always been for me. Darn the rules, we’re a family and family is what matters most.

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

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

Summary: A charming - but slightly strange - accidental first meeting at a skate park. Opposites attract. And technically...one works for the other one. Zan has a fast mouth and a lot of technical know-how, so dating hasn't always been easy. He'd set aside any notion of a romantic life to work and spend as much time outdoors as possible. Biking, canoeing, skiing, you name it. He's never tried skateboarding, even though he stops by the skate park near the trail where he bikes to watch boards - and sometimes people - flip, or crash hard. Instead of skater-watching, Zan meets Deacon. Deacon's odd and interesting, and it turns out, the head of the small indie press of which Zan is a huge fan. Rochester Press puts out the weird and erotic, the dark and mischievous, and finally meeting the head of the press is great. Maybe not so great - Deacon has just hired the printing company Zan works for, and now Zan's in charge of all the new jobs. It'll be fine. Except Zan (and his big mouth) immediately asks Deacon out on a date. And Deacon accepts. There's no fraternization clause in Zan's contract, or Deacon's. It should be fine. A high-heat novella about two quirky people who would never seek out a date via online platforms or at speed dating. But their weird seems to compliment each other. Add in a romantic picnic date, a rainstorm, and a love of books and the outdoors, and Zan and Deacon might just carry away your heart.

Word Count: Click here to reveal65,255 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Is there a time limit on love and forgiveness? Fifteen years ago, Manny didn’t show up to take Wes to the Shelby High School prom as he promised. Instead, Wes found Manny’s letter jacket at their meeting spot without a note or any explanation. From college to his current job in Monterey, California, Wes has carted the jacket around as a memento of his teenage love and rejection. This year he decides enough is enough. He’s attending the high school class reunion, returning Manny’s jacket, and going home free to find the real love of his life. When Manny sees Wes at the reunion tour of the new high school facilities, he’s determined not to let his teenage lover leave without them clearing the air and possibly getting back together. Through reunion activities such as a quiz bowl, meet-and-greet meals, and a formal banquet with a prom-like ball as well as outside activities like the quinceañera of Manny’s niece, Wes and Manny work through the lies and misunderstandings of the past. With so much to reconcile and forgive on both sides, will they end up together? Or go their separate ways with only memories of the past?

Word Count: Click here to reveal52005 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Fighting Type 1 diabetes since childhood, Jude Sebastian runs to prove he could live normal until the epileptic seizures changes his life. His illnesses rule his day-to-day activities. Even with Dawson, his Medical Alert golden Labrador, at his side, Jude finds daily life difficult. He owns the floral shop, Flowers in the Breeze, designing everything from simple bouquets to elaborate themes for weddings and celebrations. At the Shore Breeze Clinic for appointments, Jude helps a man suffering a PTSD episode. This is Doctor Elliott Sheffield, a retired Army Ranger doctor with AMEDD, who arrives in the small town for a second chance. He needs regain control of his life away from the memories of what he saw in the Middle Eastern deserts. Wanting a normal relationship, Jude tries to deny his disability, but something is happening. He can’t regulate his sugars and his seizures worsen. When he returns to the clinic, Dawson alerts him. He makes it to the end of the hallway before he succumbs. Will the personal issues and challenges of both men get in the way of a chance at love?

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: They come from different worlds, but their hearts beat in perfect harmony. Savion Once upon a time, my life was a fairytale. Engaged to a beautiful woman, we were planning our perfect future. Then, the sick act of an obsessed man ruined everything. Alone, disfigured, and betrayed, I fled to LA to focus on my work as a paleontologist. It was there I met Declan. The gorgeous Viking of a man awakens feelings within me I never knew existed. But no one could ever see beyond my scars, so how can I let myself get close to him? Declan Savion is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. The pain of his past allows him to understand my upbringing in a way no one has before. As I get to know him, I’m awakened to the possibility that I’m bi. I know a relationship with me would be a lot for him to endure. Not only am I much older than him, but my life in the limelight comes with a lot of media attention that can feel stifling. Even so, there’s something about Savvy that makes me ache to protect him. Whether he realizes it or not, I'm in deep and already hooked. For him, I will risk it all to prove my love. Will the stars align for us or burn out far too soon?