Mystery & Thriller Genre

Word Count: Click here to reveal80,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: In 1888 Austin, Texas, a shy medium with clubfoot is visited by the horrific ghosts of murdered children and enlists the help of a rugged Texas Ranger to pursue their killer. As the two men hunt the murderer, they find themselves not only in the grip of a taboo love that could—at best—send them to prison, but also in danger of becoming the killer’s next prey. In the twenty three years of his life, Thomas Carillon has known nothing but unrequited love. People don’t notice him; they only notice his clubfoot. He has given himself up to a solitary existence with only the companionship of his cat and the ghosts who visit him. When a rare child ghost, her massive injuries evident, asks Thomas for help, the only law man that will listen is a hard-bitten Texas Ranger who reawaken’s Thomas’s secret desires. The two grow closer as they chase the killer, but can they hold onto their fragile, budding love in such hard times? Hadrian Burton thinks Thomas looks like an angel, except for whatever horror he’s hiding in that strange boot. Temporarily leaving life on the range and his complicated past to track down a killer with Thomas, Hadrian finds himself doing something he vowed never to do again—falling in love. Their “congress,” as Thomas calls it, is more intense than he has ever experienced. After a lifetime of virginity, the clubfooted man is going wild, and he doesn’t balk at Hadrian’s unconventional appetites. But they’re too different; Hadrian fears he will only hurt Thomas in the end. And yet, he has never fallen so hard for another man. How can he keep both his and Thomas’s hearts from being broken? And how can he bring the elusive Child Slayer to justice with only the help of a medium and ghosts? This erotic gay romance contains violence, period homophobia, period racism, period ableism, and graphic sex scenes.

Word Count: Click here to reveal75,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A mystery. A romance. An ocular adventure. Tom's a data analyst. It's not a passionate affair. Neither is his relationship with Mario, although Mario thinks it is. That's Tom's way. He makes things work, whether they work for him or not. With anyone else it would be called low expectations. Not Tom. His passion lies elsewhere. He's a secret writer. The commitment is unusual and he keeps it to himself. Life has already dealt a few blows and he's reluctant to test its limits. Undemanding relationships. Unpublished books. A job that requires little thought. A bad attitude. These are the markers that keep him in place. But when an accident leads him to discover he's losing his sight, life screeches to a halt. His writing, his career, his very independence are at stake. Time, once the future, is turning into the past. Then a man appears. Beautiful yet damaged, Hanif brings light to Tom's darkness. The irony isn't lost on him, if it's irony at all. Just when he's about to give up on life, he finds a new reason to live. But things may not be as they seem. Lies can be told. Accidents can be arranged. Identities can be assumed. Tom's story is a trip down a nebulous road. From an easy life to an erotic adventure, from a modest employee to a man on the run, he must see the truth while he still can. Ophthalmologists. Optometrists. Lovers. Friends. Some wish him well. Some don't. Played out against a backdrop of political intrigue and haunted by ghosts from the past, is this story of love at first sight no more than a game of blind man's bluff?

Word Count: Click here to reveal49000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: When Jack's old friend Peter is on the run and injured, Jack agrees to help him out. Ollie has severe misgivings about all of it, but he can't let Jack handle it alone. With little to go on and no chance to investigate, they have to make a plan to get Peter out of the country safely. Meanwhile, Jack's abusive ex is being investigated for murder. Jack and Ollie try to dodge the murder investigation, with mixed results. But one nosy cop thinks Jack knows things he's not telling, and doesn't plan on letting go that easily.  

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

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

Summary: For three gay men in love, opening the closet door could be a risky move. Sheriff Casey Barlow has a slick, media-savvy challenger out to beat him in the upcoming election. Casey's damned good at his job, but he hasn't kissed the right asses, and early polls suggest voters like his opponent's style. Coming out now, let alone revealing his relationship with two men, could sink any hope of keeping his badge. Scott Edison has a real shot at the NHL. He's playing the best hockey of his life. Whenever he can, he travels home to his gruff sheriff and their laid-back cowboy, but there are no out gay players in the NHL. As a rookie working his ass off to be called up, he can't afford to make waves. Will Rice always figured he'd live alone, managing Graham and Annmarie Slater's cattle ranch, but a hot, young hockey player and a compact, muscled lawman rearranged his plans. Even though he's older and lanky and ordinary, he's been sharing their lives and their beds. He doesn't need to be out— isn't sure he ever wants the Slaters to know about him. Life's good the way things are. Then Graham and Annmarie are killed in a hit and run that may not be an accident. As Will grieves, and Casey investigates, the coming changes will shake all their lives. ** this is a re-edit and expansion of the story in the "Hunting Under Covers" anthology

Word Count: Click here to reveal120000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Changes series, book 2 Three men, one summer of media, mentorship, and murder. There's a reason Scott Edison came out as gay and poly on national TV— now no one can try to push him back into the closet. But as his men and his hockey team deal with the fallout from fans and paparazzi, moving forward isn't as easy as he'd hoped. Will Rice was looking forward to a quiet summer, sharing the work with his guys and giving Scott a refuge from the spotlight. He's hired a couple of young ranch hands, and finally feels ready to give back some of the mentoring that turned his life around decades ago. But good fences won't be enough to keep trouble off the ranch. Casey Barlow left the Sheriff's Department on his own terms, out and proud. But when the new sheriff is murdered— and Casey's one of the few with a watertight alibi— he's asked to investigate, and he can't resist. He's determined to solve the murder, and still take care of his men on the home front. Then one murder becomes two… It's a summer of risks and challenges, and working together is the only way they'll make it through.

Word Count: Click here to reveal41,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: It had been Tanner’s goal to make sure Camden didn’t waste another birthday all alone. Yep, his good buddy from college was hell bent on getting Camden “some action” as he put it. In fact, the idiot set up an entire weekend get-away on a private remote island where a group of men, including him, would be playing a very sexy game of chase and capture. Happy Birthday, Camden! Oh yes, it promised to be quite the game. An adult twist on "Capture the Flag". Very adult. Especially when it came to what the "flag" actually was and where it went. The fun, very adult part? You still needed to capture your opponent's flag to win. However, Camden had immediately ended up the prey and that big, sexy, dark haired, muscle bound, relentless god of a man, Gunner, was the hunter. And he was closing in. Shouldn’t it be the other way around since this was supposed to be Camden's birthday present? Well, it didn’t matter. There were going to be three rounds of this game. And it appeared like this round Camden was going down before he even reached the first check point. Yep. Going down on all fours, stripped, flag confiscated and – well – let’s just say he would be screwed. Oh yes, well screwed. So... what was the down side of losing again?

Word Count: Click here to reveal43000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A struggling small business. An odd job opportunity. Two friends figuring out they may be something more. Demetrius and Cody stopped a murderous wolf man months ago, but that hasn’t done much to bring in jobs for their Critter Catchers business. Now, as the two best friends struggle to make ends meet, Demetrius also tries to find time to date Oliver, the new reporter at the Parson’s Hollow Herald, and Cody can’t help nitpicking about them. When veterinary student Agatha Tisdale approaches them with an odd case, they jump at the opportunity despite their misgivings. While Cody flirts with Agatha, Demetrius finds himself distracted by handsome farmer Reed Wilkes whose goats are being bled dry by something living in the woods around his farm. While working to identify the blood-drinking critter, however, Demetrius discovers he’s having to remind himself more and more often to keep Cody in the friend category of his mind and heart. And for his part, Cody is realizing he might be more than a little jealous of the relationship developing between Demmy and Oliver. But all of that must be set aside when farmer Wilkes goes missing and Cody, Demetrius, Oliver, and Agatha follow a bloody trail into the woods and come face-to-face with something as dangerous as the wolf man!

Word Count: Click here to reveal105360 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A man recovering from a traumatic event. His partner supporting him the best he can. An agent called back into the field by an old enemy. A case in Detroit requires the onsite attention of FBI Special Agent Aaron Pearce. Men are being murdered, notes left behind that reference Pearce, inviting him back to the city. But Pearce doesn’t want to leave his boyfriend, Mark Beecher, who is still recovering from their terrifying trip to Barbados. Surely someone else can track down this killer. Mark Beecher tells Pearce what the man already knows: this case is too personal, and Pearce has to leave him and return to Detroit. Regretfully, Pearce leaves, and Mark works on becoming more comfortable with himself and his memories, making progress every day. Which means, when the stakes in Pearce’s case become even more personal for him, Mark has to decide whether it’s better for him to stay in Washington, D.C., or be with Pearce in Detroit.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Every life is a circle, and sometimes those circles connect and overlap in unexpected ways, even if the patterns they form aren’t obvious at first glance. Past and present, from the wilderness to small towns and cities, the greedy and evil seek to exploit the vulnerable. The brave men of law enforcement fight to protect the innocent and punish the guilty—but they’re not alone. Men from all walks of life are called to stand beside them and solve these mysteries. Along the way, lives intertwine as couples are reminded that one thing makes the struggle worthwhile: love.

Word Count: Click here to reveal51700 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: The Legend of the Ghost Train continues: 1930’s Harlan County Kentucky Boone Douglas and Tucker Winchester are from different worlds, both knew that being homosexual could be a death sentence in this backwoods hell. Their love blossomed in spite of everything. Two men find love, during a difficult time for the Appalachian states, where many lived in poverty. They struggled, working long days in coal mines for pennies. There were also hostilities between mining companies and the unions who wanted to rally the mine workers. There’s a reason it’s called Bloody Harlan County. A greedy man, a cave full of miners, and two lovers suffered the worst fate imaginable.   Present Craig Waterson, a descendant of Tucker, fell down an abandoned air shift leading to a caved in mine. He dreamed or walked through the past seeing Boone and Tucker fall in love, then lose everything. When he awoke, he discovered that Tucker’s ghost had followed him to the present with a request. Craig, Tucker, and Doug Harper, Boone’s great nephew, work together to recover the remains of the miners who were killed in the Copperhead Mining Accident. Many secrets have to be uncovered before Boone and Tucker can find peace or Craig and Doug can find their own happily ever after.

Word Count: Click here to reveal72000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Vampires and werewolves live long lives. The Sleepless City saga might have ended but the story continues… Welcome to the Vampire Guard, where legend and myth meet science and technology. Vampires make the best spies. Throw a smart-mouthed werewolf in with three vampires, mix well, and The Vampire Guard's newest team is bound to become one of their greatest assets. Super spies with a full range of skills. Warrior, hacker, thief, and scientist. They get in, do the job and get out before the bad guys ever know what hit them. Forge, Blair, Declan, and Lucas are thrust into the world of high-tech spies and top-secret espionage conspiracies. Recruited into the world’s most elite and secret organization with one singular mission. Protect those who can’t defend themselves from ruin. Life becomes complicated when an impending Presidential visit to their town, Boggslake, throws them headlong into the world of the vampires and werewolves of the Vampire Guard. Very quickly they uncover and confront a werewolf terrorist organization known as the Qiguan. Together they must thwart an assassination attempt on the open waters of Lake Superior while tracking a previously unknown biological weapon controlled by the Qiguan—a weapon which may very well mean death for one of them.

Word Count: Click here to reveal18,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A fun, sexy story featuring that star of Adam Carpenter's novel, DUDE RANCH. Johnny Lee Capstone never thinks about settling down. As the owner and proprietor of Capstone’s Dude Ranch, he tends to lust after the men who book vacation to his resort in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Sexy, insatiable, he focuses his attention on one man to feed his urgent needs. But something is about to change as he approaches his 40th birthday, which coincidentally falls on Christmas Day. From December 1st until the 25th Johnny Lee decides to take a sabbatical from hid desires--if he can. It’s a chance for him to reexamine his life as a new year nears. Someone else has something else in mind, a challenge that Johnny Lee finds confounding…and intriguing. It’s the first day of the holiday season when that initial package arrives, with the simple phrase stating, “Just the Advent.” A beginning. Each day another missive arrives. What does Johnny Lee do with this information, this tease? Who is sending them, and why? Is it the fact he’s hitting a new decade giving him a reason to rethink the way he lives his life? Is the sexuality that he thrives on about to alter him? Maybe, he’ll find a future. Beyond the physical; could Johnny Lee Capstone actually make love to a man?

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 reveal11200 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: This is a Life Lessons short story 3.5, occurring a week after Home Work - book 3. (* contains significant spoilers for Home Work*) Mac, Tony, and the kids have had a long complicated year. Each of them has dealt with fears and losses, joys and triumphs. As December 31st approaches, it's time to look forward to the new year, and what may be in store. Mac and Tony figure whatever happens, they can handle it, as long as they go through it together.   11,000 words

Word Count: Click here to reveal125,090 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: In 2002, Mark Vincent, onetime senior special agent, ran into John, a troubled little boy, at a local McDonald’s. Concerned, although it wasn’t his business, he gave the kid his business card and left. Three years later, Mark is director of his department at the WBIS and married to Quinton Mann, the former CIA spook who now writes spy novels. They’ve settled into a life of quiet domesticity and are even considering adopting a cat. All this changes when John, now using another name, barrels into Mark’s life with a secret no one expects and on the run from an organization that wants him despite the collateral damage. What will Mark, the man known as “the best” in the intelligence community, do when he learns what this secret is? Will it affect his relationship with Quinn? And how complicated are things going to get when they decide to get involved?

Word Count: Click here to reveal32840 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Cal wanted to rescue his parents, however when he discovers everyone from the leader of his Cackle to his brother and even his own mate were plotting to leave without him he feels beyond hurt…he feels betrayed and leaving is the only answer. Jackson is devastated. He can’t eat. He can’t drink. He can’t sleep. His mate is gone and he isn’t any good to anyone. Discovering his mate is living with the Cackle next to his own sparks a life in him he had not had before. He knows he cannot go onto those lands without express permission by their leader but there is no time. He had to get to Cal and beg his mate for forgiveness. He had to put his life on the line. Cal was his and Jackson intended to bring him home or die trying.

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

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

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

Word Count: Click here to reveal51,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: What happens when an autistic firefighter and his paramedic boyfriend share a thirst for true crime? Osian Garey and Dannel Ortea live together in a colourful flat in Covent Garden. They run a podcast and throw themselves wholeheartedly into Cosplay, video games, and musical theatre.  This year, they’re all fired up to attend their annual convention with a group of first responders. When Osian finds a paramedic friend murdered in the middle of the crowded venue, the police immediately turn their attention to him. They have one question on their mind. Is he the first witness on the scene or the killer? As the mystery unfolds, Osian has to face the trauma of his last job as a paramedic. Somewhere in those memories, a killer waits to exact revenge. They’ll have to prove Osian’s innocence and fight for their own survival when the killer puts them both in their sights.

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

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

Summary: A death in the family. A body in the woods. A hidden threat growing stronger. Cody and Demetrius have been through a lot, but they're keeping positive attitudes and moving forward. Until, that is, the entire Bower clan comes into town, emotions running high, and their small house feels even tinier. If Cody thought being with his entire family in Colorado was bad, having them all in the house he shares with Demmy is worse. And of course it would be time for a monster case. Only this one is different. It's cunning, dangerous, and by the time Cody and Demetrius get involved, the threat is already burrowed deep within the town. But they’ve done this before, and they know what needs to be done. They’ll stick together and work with their odd collection of friends and family to unravel the mystery. When the threat strikes in unexpected ways, Cody and Demetrius face their most personal challenge yet. They forge ahead, digging into the details about the founding of Parson's Hollow itself for the key to save themselves and those they love here in the present. In a town where the truth about the past isn’t quite what they’ve been taught, they'll discover more about their histories, and each other, than they ever anticipated.

Word Count: Click here to reveal50,100 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A small Western town quietly invaded, the residents bitten and turned in the night. A young man finally coming to terms with the immense and unusual power he wields. A friendship tested and evolving into something deeper. Vampires are taking over the frontier town of Belkin’s Pass, led by an ancient and evil vampire named Balthazar. No one has recognized the evil taking root… until tonight. Josh Stanton is a wanted man. He’s lived on the outskirts of the town’s social circles all his life, and, after a tragedy caused by his own hand, flees into Venom Valley, feeling he has no one to turn to for help. Not even Dex, his best friend and a man he secretly loves. Dex Wells has loved Josh for longer than he can remember. But as a town deputy, he’s torn between his feelings for Josh and his duty to the town. When Josh is in trouble, Dex races to Josh’s aid ahead of the Sheriff, needing to hear the truth about his situation… and perhaps confess the depth of his feelings. Glory, a half White, half Apache saloon girl, and the only survivor from the nighttime attack on the One-Eyed Rooster, strikes out on her own. She has no plan, yet, but vows to avenge those she’s left behind. Together, these three unlikely heroes must come together to fight back against the vampire Balthazar. If they fail, his evil will spread across the West and, eventually, the rest of the country.