historical – 20th century

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: “Sometimes the hardest part of my job is dealing with human cruelty and its aftermath. It’s almost always instigated by fear. I wonder if we will ever evolve out of that instinct.” Pastor Phil Sturgis in The Handyman’s Summer By the late spring of 1987, Handyman Ed Stephens and his life partner Rick Benton are anticipating a lazy, peaceful, even boring summer. Things do not go as planned as Ed and Rick suddenly find themselves embroiled in mystery, scandal, surprises, and a lesson in both the kindness and cruelty of people. When local bag lady, Evie Fountain, suddenly dies of a stroke, Ed and Rick become interested in her rundown house. Evie’s house turns out to be shrouded not only with overgrown bushes, but also in secrecy. Ed and Rick are drawn into the murky legend of the official town character, determined to discover the truth underneath the rumors that have circulated throughout Porterfield, Indiana, for almost thirty years. When a personal journal is found in the house, they become immersed in a shameful story of small town bigotry and its tragic results. There is plenty of other activity to keep Ed and Rick busy over the summer. Neal Soames, the gay teenager they have been mentoring, graduates high school and suddenly gets cold feet about going away to college. He moves into Penfield Manor while Ed and Rick try to convince him leaving Porterfield is in his best interests. Ed’s friend, Dr. Paul Klarn, calls Ed for help when one of his patients is an unidentified victim of a queer-bashing. Ed and Rick decide to take this young man in as well, creating, as their friend Gordy calls it, “Uncle Ed’s Home for Wayward Homos.” Ed’s mother, Norma, also stirs up drama when she involves Ed in her troubles with the local garden club. Ed develops a scheme to turn the tables on a pushy, obnoxious woman who is determined to run the club in her own best interests. Norma will have another surprise for Ed before the summer is out. “Expect the unexpected,” Norma tells him. Muriel Weisberg, self-proclaimed vision-impaired bitch goddess, is on the scene as well throughout the summer, providing much needed comic relief for Ed. She uses her new role as a columnist for the local newspaper to solve problems, spout her sometimes unconventional wisdom, and to assist in the mystery of Evie’s house. As always, Ed supplies a soundtrack of both oldies and current hits to help him cope with this busy season, one that will, in some ways, change the lives of Ed and his beloved Rick forever. Join these two gallant men as they continue to create an oasis of freedom and acceptance in an otherwise narrow-minded world. Together, hand in hand, still in love, Ed and Rick move triumphantly forward, ready to take on the world.

Word Count: Click here to reveal75000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A dancer who cannot dance and a doctor who cannot heal must find in each other the strength to love.  History books will call it The Great War, but for Benjamin Holm, that is a misnomer. The war is a disaster, a calamity, and it leaves Benjamin profoundly wounded, his mind and memory shattered. A year after Armistice, still struggling to regain his mental faculties, he returns to Paris in search of his closest friend, Elias. Benjamin meets Louis Donadieu, a striking and mysterious dance master. Though Louis is a difficult man to know, he offers to help Benjamin. Together they search the cabarets, salons, and art exhibits in the newly revitalized city on the brink of les années folles (the Crazy Years). Almost despite himself, Benjamin breaches Louis’s defenses, and the two men discover an unexpected passion. As his memory slowly returns, Benjamin will need every ounce of courage he possesses to recover Elias’s story. He and Louis will need even more than that to lay claim to the love – and the future – they deserve.

Word Count: Click here to reveal34000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Stiles Long emphatically did not want his lover, Michael O’Leary to go on the assignment he had been given. He didn’t care that Michael was an amazing poker player or that his commander thought Michael was the perfect man for the job. He almost lost Michael once. He couldn’t go through that again. Michael needed this. He needed to prove that he was able to take care of himself. He didn’t need Stiles to take care of him. He needed to be Stiles’ equal. The poker game in Durango, Colorado was his chance to prove that. The fact that Stiles didn’t want him to go didn’t matter. Michael had to do this. Lizzie Ferguson was Stiles partner in the Pinkerton Agency. She was a good agent. That didn’t mean, she had to like being dressed in satin and lace, showing way too much of her body to total strangers. Lizzie knew there was more going on at Maverick’s Saloon, and it might just cost her life. None of them suspected that a simple poker game would turn into a deadly nightmare. If the three of them weren’t careful, one of them might just end up the next victim.

Word Count: Click here to reveal138500 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: It’s 1942 and after a sexual indiscretion, US Navy pilot Zachary MacKenzie is sent to serve in the Royal Navy’s submarine service—a shockingly harsh punishment for a man who loves to fly. The submarine is oppressive and frustrating for him, and he’s marked out from his peers, publicly by being American, and privately by his attraction to men. The only bright spot is the company of his steward, sonar operator Gethin Llewelyn. Despite the differences of rank and background, they’re drawn to each other. Gethin’s integrity complements Zach’s casual joie de vivre, and soon the friendship develops into something much more. As the threats of war increase, the submarine is plagued by potentially hostile vessels, and circumstances lead them to suspect there’s a spy amongst their own crew. Being forced even closer together as they work for the greater good reveals a new awareness, and Zach doesn’t know what is in more danger, the vessel under his charge or his heart.

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Information not available

Summary:

Word Count: Click here to reveal135000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: “I’m sorry I have to tell you this, Harry, but Daley Morrison was murdered. It was no heart attack. He was stabbed through the heart and then staked out, naked, in the middle of the Sydney Cricket Ground as some sort of warning to someone.” Harry Jones almost fell into his chair, such was his shock. Clyde Smith is brought into the investigation by his former colleague, Sam Telford, after a note is found in the evidence bags with Clyde’s initials on it. Someone wants ex-Detective Sergeant Smith to investigate the crime from outside the police force. It can only mean one thing—corruption at the highest levels. The Cricketer’s Arms is an old-fashioned, pulp fiction detective novel, set in beachside Sydney in 1956. It follows the intricacies of a complex murder case, involving a tight-knit group of queer men, sports match-fixing, and a criminal drug cartel. Was Daley Morrison killed because of his sexual proclivities, or was his death a signal to others to tread carefully? Has Clyde Smith been fingered as the man for the case, or will the case be the end of the road for the war veteran detective?

Word Count: Click here to reveal43220 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Information not available

Summary: Edmond Cato has dreamed his whole life of becoming an engineer. But it is the dawn of WWII, and his domineering father, the affluent Admiral Guy Cato and patriarch of the Cato family, demands his son honor family tradition and become an officer in the U.S. Navy. Edmond reluctantly agrees to follow in his father’s footsteps, but when he arrives to the train station, he meets and soon falls in love with Richard Walters, a fellow student of engineering who inspires him to follow his heart. Life is perfect until the admiral discovers his son hasn’t reported to the Naval Academy and even worse, that he loves another man. The stony-hearted patriarch not only disinherits Edmond but goes after Richard and his family. Together, Edmond, Richard and his older brother, Morgan, will risk everything when they threaten to expose the admiral’s darkest secret.

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

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

Summary: The Boys of Bullaroo is a collection of six short novellas, each set a decade apart, spanning the period from the Great War to the Vietnam conflict. Linked by an outback Australian town, Bullaroo, the narratives follow the loves, the losses, and the sexual awakenings of men over the course of sixty years. From the deserts of Egypt and the Light Horse, to prisoner of war camps during the Second World War, and to the flood of American servicemen on R&R during the age of conscription in the 1960s, these tales explore the nature of what it is to love, and to be loved by other men. Razor gangs, male prostitution, and the immediate post-war flood of emigrants from southern Europe are some of the themes that contribute to the colour and private lives of husbands, brothers, sons, and lovers over the course of the century, told from a unique, Australian perspective.

Word Count: Click here to reveal100000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Gay, Genderfluid, Lesbian, Non Binary, Polyamorous, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: Dragons don't care what gender you are. A small town may be a refuge, or a trap. Some younger brothers really do save the planet. Three people can be the strongest shape. There's nothing quite like a gorgeous girl on a shape-shifting motorcycle. This second Kira Harp collection brings together LGBTQ teens in 21 stories of adventure, discovery, and romance, in fantasy, paranormal, contemporary, and SciFi settings. Ranging from a few short pages to 12,000 words, each story was inspired by a prompt picture from the YA LGBTQ Books Group on Goodreads. (Content warnings for abduction, bullying, self harm, substance abuse, suicidal ideation.) **This book is free in ebook everywhere except Amazon

Word Count: Click here to reveal55k (Click here to hide)

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

Summary:

Summer Fair

Word Count: Click here to reveal9947 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Nigel Mann has learned to protect his emotions by creating a wall of ice between himself and the world. He’s been doing it for so long that no one remembers the little boy he used to be, least of all himself. His occupation as an agent for the CIA has led him to accept the sobriquet he’s earned: “Mr. Freeze.” Portia Sebring deciphers codes for the NSA. She’s a warm woman, but she doesn’t like men with grabby hands and isn’t afraid to slap them down. Because of this, she’s been labeled cold. She determines that if they insist on calling her the “Ice Princess,” she’ll give them exactly what they’re expecting to see: a woman cold as ice. These two were never meant to meet, but outside factors are in play, and ironically, when Mr. Freeze meets the Ice Princess, what else could result but sparks flying?

Word Count: Click here to reveal105000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A Lambda Literary Awards Finalist for Bisexual Fiction (2019) London, 1906 Lucien Saxby is a journalist, writing for the society pages. The Honourable Aubrey Fanshawe, second son of an earl, is Society. They have nothing in common, until a casual encounter leads to a crisis. Aubrey isn’t looking for love. He already has it, in his long-term clandestine relationship with Lord and Lady Hernedale. And Lucien is the last man Aubrey should want. He’s a commoner, raised in service, socially unacceptable. Worse, he writes for a disreputable, gossip-hungry newspaper. Aubrey can’t afford to trust him when arrest and disgrace are just a breath away. Lucien doesn’t trust nobs. Painful experience has taught him that working people simply don’t count to them. Years ago, he turned his back on a life of luxury so his future wouldn’t depend on an aristocrat’s whim. Now, thanks to Aubrey, he’s becoming entangled in the risky affairs of the upper classes, antagonising people who could destroy him with a word. Aubrey and Lucien have too much to hide—and too much between them to ignore. Rejecting the strict rules and closed doors of Edwardian society might lead them both to ruin… but happiness and integrity alike demand it.

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

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

Summary: Soulmates across time. A sacrifice that could keep them apart forever. In present day, near the village of Ornes, France, Devon works on his master's thesis in history as he fantasizes about meeting a WWI American Doughboy. In 1916, during the Battle of Ornes, Stanley is a young soldier facing the horrors of the battlefield. Mourning the death of his friends from enemy fire, Stanley volunteers to bring the message for retreat so he can save everyone else in his battalion. While on his mission, mustard gas surrounds Stanley and though he thinks he is dying, he finds himself in a peaceful green meadow where he literally trips over Devon. Devon doesn't believe Stanley is who he says he is, a soldier from WWI. But a powerful attraction grows between them, and if Stanley is truly a visitor from the past, then he is Devon's dream come true. The problem is, Stanley's soul wants to finish his mission, and time keeps yanking him back to relive his fateful last morning over and over, even as his heart and body long to stay with Devon. Will Stanley have to choose between Devon and saving his battalion? Will time betray their love, leaving each alone? A male/male time travel romance, complete with hurt/comfort, French coffee, warm blankets, fireplace kisses, the angst of separation, and true love across time.

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

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

Summary: Coming back to New York to see her ailing father, Lizzie Ferguson did not expect to find him healthy and newly married to a much younger woman. She, also, didn’t expect to connect with an old lover and childhood friend or be accused of killing her father. But, life has a way of knocking you to your knees when you least expect it. Stiles Long had always regretted that the killer, from his first case as a Pinkerton Agent, had got away. Now, in New York it was happening again. The Hotel Astor Bar was a meeting place for men who enjoyed the company of men. And, some of them were being brutally murdered. When one of the suspects from the original case appears at the hotel, Stiles is torn between his desire to stop a killer and kiss the man senseless. [embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyVKUkxX7lQ&feature=youtu.be[/embed] Two different cases, but some of the faces overlap from one to the other. Stiles and Lizzie are in a race to discover who the killers are before another body gets added to the count.

Word Count: Click here to reveal67429 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: During the War to End All Wars, Roddy Sayer survived his trip down the Ruzizi with his beloved, Charlie Pearson. He survived the sinking of the Konigin Marie Christine he and Charlie engineered. But now it’s 1922, his beloved is dead after working on a dig in Egypt to unearth royal tombs, and Roddy is alone, with odd, erotic dreams of an Egyptian prince ensnared by the machinations of a high priest. Is he losing his mind? Thomas Fortescue-Smythe, who flirted with Roddy and made advances toward him before, finds him again. Tommy persuades Roddy to come to his family home in England, and eventually, to share his bed and his body. But when Roddy sees an Egyptian man and knows it is the same man who was the high priest in his dreams, can he keep himself and Tommy safe?

Word Count: Click here to reveal60000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Two men, one watch… When Alex and Charlie first met, they instantly clicked. Throughout the years, their bond progressed from friends, to lovers. But when Charlie’s father passed away something inside him died too. Alex’s worst fear has come to fruition and their relationship may be over. He knows his heart won’t survive without its other half. Things spiral out of control and Charlie’s erratic behavior leads to an intense argument, during which they’re forcibly pulled apart. When Charlie comes to, he finds Alex is missing. Frantically, he searches for him. But when he finds him Charlie’s surprised that Alex doesn’t remember who he is or anything about their life. Will this unfortunate incident strengthen their relationship, or will it be the end for them? Only Time Will Tell is an Erotic, MM, Time Travel/Sci-Fi  60,000 word stand-alone Romance for those over 18.

Word Count: Click here to reveal37,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Sheriff Avery O’Rourke has tried to obey his strict Christian faith and lead a “normal” life. In 1923 in a rural East Texas town, “normal” means heterosexual. A cholera outbreak has made Avery a young widower, so he is married to his job. When a murder investigation forces him to confront his truth, will he finally be able to accept being gay? Veterinarian Garland Sands has returned from Europe to take over his father’s practice. Struggling with shellshock (PTSD) and heartbroken by the suicide of his French lover, he resigns himself to a quiet, solitary life as a country vet. But the murder of the town doctor brings the sheriff to Garland’s doorstep looking for help with the investigation. Seeing Avery awakens dormant feelings. Can he love a man who hates what he is? This isn’t the lavish 1920s of The Great Gatsby. This is the flip side of that coin—rural East Texas. No electricity. No indoor plumbing. No flappers. In 1923, the timber barons have left and racism, homophobia, and sexism thrive. A Little Sin is a realistic mystery with unlikely heroes and a timeless romance between lovers caught in a world where their love is forbidden. This book contains steamy sex scenes and is intended for adults only.

Word Count: Click here to reveal88000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Gay, Genderfluid, Lesbian, Non Binary, Pansexual, Polyamorous (Click here to hide)

Summary: As 2017 opened, the United States took several steps back in the progress toward equality. In response, a group of authors has stepped up to offer positive stories of hope and love. In an effort to help fight and support those groups who are facing even greater challenges, we wrote these stories to offer a small amount of aid. Stories of hope, resistance, and ultimately triumph fill the pages of this anthology. All proceeds of the anthology go to The Trevor Project and GLAAD to help fight the effects of the dark times we’re facing.

Word Count: Click here to reveal54000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Gruesome murders taking place across 1920s London draw Lew and Alec together through the desolation of the East End and the smoky music clubs of Soho. They both have secrets that could get them arrested or killed. In the middle of a murder investigation that involves wild magic, mysterious creatures and illegal sexual desire, who is safe to trust? Not Lew, who is struggling to get to grips with life a century before he was born. Or Alec, who wants Lew in his bed, despite liking him for murder. The first in the Lost in Time 1920s London trilogy, gathered together in the London Calling Box Set. Buy Lost in Time in Audio (99c at Chirp, Apple, B&N and Spotify). 

Word Count: Click here to reveal1100 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A muddy trench in France during the Great War wasn't the most auspicious place for Tom and Michael to reach an understanding of their own natures. A small, individual tragedy unfolds ... But then Tom discovers a place beyond, where he and other men like him are blessed with all that life denied them.