A Second Chance
by Edward Kendrick
Ben Mercer is an ex-cop, lamed, framed, and thrown off the force for a crime his partner committed. Now homeless, he has no expectations for a better life until he's recruited by Durand, head of Vanguard Security, to join a team that deals with problems the police can't or won't touch. All Ben needs is the approval of the team leader, Zach Turner.<br><br>To get it, Ben has to prove to Zach that he still retains his skills as a sniper, and that he can handle any job thrown at him, despite the sti…
So Far Away
by Nell Iris
Engaged couple Zakarias and Julian are convinced nothing can separate them ... until a global pandemic hits. Zakarias catches the virus with mild symptoms and isolates in the couple’s guest house.<br><br>The few meters dividing them might as well be the moon as he watches Julian, an ICU nurse, work himself to the bone, unable to support him the way he needs. Frustration and worry build as the weeks pass.<br><br>Will Zakarias be declared healthy before Julian burns out?
Animals
by Wayne Mansfield
In the future deep space travel is a regular occurrence. After completing a mission to take supplies to Earth 2, or Genesis as the colonists call it, something goes horribly wrong with the space shuttle returning Adam Evans and his crew mates to Earth. The shuttle crashes and Adam and Jason survive, but the Earth they return to has changed greatly.<br><br>When tragedy strikes, leaving Adam on his own, he finds the paradise surrounding him has an increasingly darker side. He assumes he can outsma…
Promise Me We'll Be Okay
by Nell Iris
What do you do when your past comes knocking?<br><br>Six hundred and ninety-five days. That’s how long it’s been since Jude’s fiancé broke off their engagement. With the help of his brother and his all-encompassing love for music, Jude glued the broken pieces of his heart back together, but when his ex shows up on his doorstep late one evening, Jude fears it will fall apart again.<br><br>Two years ago, Vincent made a terrible mistake. He left the love of his life for stupid, ill-advised reasons.…
Playing the Field: Getting Wet
by J.M. Snyder
Rory Holt is the best swimmer on the team at State U. and he knows it. Swimming is his life, and if Rory hopes to attain his dreams of Olympic gold one day, he can’t let anything distract him. Every morning finds him practicing at the campus fitness center, and every afternoon he blows his teammates away with his speed and finesse in the water.<br><br>The new semester brings with it new tryouts, including the bright, up-and-coming Chase Cohen. Chase is sexy and sure of himself, both in and out o…
Not According to Plan
by J.M. Snyder
Jonathan Banks and Peter Giles have worked together for five years, business partners in a planning firm that bears both their names. From the moment Jonathan was hired, the attraction between the two men was instantaneous and mutual, but he was dating someone else at the time and turned down Peter’s advances.<br><br>Now Jonathan’s boyfriend is out of the picture, and he’d love nothing more than for Peter to ask him out again, but he knows his partner all too well. Peter doesn’t take rejection e…
Gingerbread and Good Tidings
by Kris T. Bethke
Cody Schaefer loves the Christmas season and a benefit to working from home means that he gets to be surrounded by his decoration collections all the time. And as a bonus, he starts getting deliveries from a local café containing holiday treats flavored with gingerbread. The notes aren’t signed, but they clearly come from someone who knows him.<br><br>Out of all of Cody’s friends, Jason van Buren is the only one level-headed about the mysterious treats, and Cody begins talking to him daily. Cody…
Strangers in Paradise
by Temple Madison
Fallen angel Adam Blackstone, also known as Adamas the Black Knight, is gorgeous as hell, from which he escaped. Adapting quickly to life on Earth, he builds a new life as the owner of a popular restaurant. Despite being mortal and vulnerable to the earthly dangers, he still thrives. And he is waiting for the meeting that will change his new life.<br><br>X-Tilla, the Underworld’s best assassin, follows Adam through a vortex to Earth. He undergoes several changes while in the vortex, just like Ad…
Art Theft 101
by Edward Kendrick
Vampire Philip Archer and his team of successful art thieves -- black panther shifter Duff, ghost Rob, and Duff's human girlfriend Liddy -- are asked by the handsome Ian Croft, a potential client, to break with tradition and rescue a kidnapped child. When the caper turns out rather differently than expected, Philip is bitterly reminded why he has remained single for so long. Yet, surrounded as he is by loving friends, he is not desperate. This is why, when he meets the newly-made vampire Ephram,…
Second Star to the Right
by A.F. Henley
Be it unrequited fascination with his straight best friend or impossible fantasies of rekindled interest with his heartbreaking ex, Mason has no clue why the perfect connection seems to keep slipping through his fingers. When another lonely holiday seems like too much weight to shoulder, Mason gives up on romance and seeks out the next best thing -- rented company. Jack is everything a person could want in an escort: willing, hot, and built like an angel.<br><br>Mason can't resist. After all, wh…
A Touch of Lilt
by Katharine O'Neill
Julia got away from a boyfriend who picked another woman, his mother, over her. She just wants to celebrate Christmas without the stress of knowing she'll be on the back burner. However, her ex doesn't seem to get the message and won't leave her alone. Doesn't help that her hot neighbor makes her wish they weren't currently in a pandemic ...<br><br>Keith is bewitched by Julia. The attraction is strong, even more than his addiction for soda. He offers his help, hoping that Julia will lean on him.…
His Secret Admirer
by Edward Kendrick
When the first note shows up at the restaurant where he works -- when he isn't designing costumes for a local theater -- Jim Foster laughs it off. When the notes keep coming, he doesn't find the fact that he might have a secret admirer quite so amusing.<br><br>Alan North, a lonely, bookish customer at the restaurant, is too shy to even think of talking to Jim -- as much as he wants to.<br><br>Then the killings begin. Two of Jim's friends are murdered in what appear to be muggings. However, the …
Put Five Rings on It
by David Connor
Numbers mean everything to an Olympic marathoner, but for Gordon O’Dooley, his obsession with one number in particular might get a little out of hand.<br><br>Gordon literally comes running into Marty Walsh’s family diner one day, and their mutual attraction is instant. He comes on too strong, though, and Marty quickly slams on the brakes. When Marty suggests they take things slow, Gordon races off, and any hope of a relationship goes right along with him.<br><br>Four years pass, and Marty does h…
The Nutcracker
by Drew Hunt
Bitter and depressed after his boyfriend walks out on him, Garth Morgan cancels Christmas. Garth’s mom has other ideas however. She reminds him there’s still Adam, Garth’s eight-year-old son to consider. So Garth braves the Christmas Eve crowds at the shopping mall to buy gifts.<br><br>Despite aching feet and arms that feel like they’re being pulled out of their sockets, Garth agrees to wait in line so Adam can see Santa.<br><br>Adam asks for a new boyfriend for his daddy because the last one ma…
Whetting the Appetite
by Elizabeth L. Brooks
Romance and erotica authors Lynn Townsend and Elizabeth L. Brooks have joined forces to assemble this collection of "flash-fiction" ultra-short stories generated in response to prompts offered by fans and friends and touching on dozens of aspects of lust, love, and desire.<br><br>The stories in this collection span contemporary, historical, steampunk, fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, taking you from a modern living room to the high seas to Victorian London to planets and times at the edge of imagina…
Carnival Cowboy
by Temple Madison
At the end of a bloody trail, Johnny Redd finds an incredible secret.<br><br>While struggling with a bullet in his chest, he crawls along the ground until he finds himself surrounded by a maze of quaint carnival tarps. Inside is a world of color, costumes, false hair, nails, eyelashes -- and a man who dresses like a woman. It’s a world of trickery, deception, and lies. Johnny makes it just inside the tent when his strength fails and he faints dead away. When he awakes, he’s reminded of the bizar…
Realm of the Polar Bear
by Alex Morgan
Stranded by a blizzard on his way home for Christmas, Jarrod waits for death by freezing in his pickup, until a large, white-haired, bearded man steps out of the forest to rescue him. Jarrod is reluctant to follow the handsome man but decides his chances of survival aren’t good if he stays in his truck.<br><br>Caleb takes Jarrod to a warm, inviting cabin in the middle of the forest and offers him food and drink to warm him up. Jarrod’s apprehensions begin to dissipate as his attraction for the m…
The Mule Man
by Deirdre O’Dare
Orr Loveless is exactly where he knows he belongs, rescuing and training mules. Despite their reputation, which he feels is undeserved, he knows they are smart, sure footed, and great mounts for trail riding and outdoor adventures. The only thing he lacks is a human partner to share the work and the fun, but he knows his lifestyle is not likely to attract one.<br><br>Jase Keller has returned to New Mexico, where his forgotten roots remain. With his high finance job destroying him, he desperately…
Ownage
by Dale Chase
Outfielder Tommy Knox is said to "own" pitcher Wayne Kerley because he always hits well when Wayne is on the mound. What the public doesn't know is that the two men have long been involved in a committed, loving relationship. They met and fell in love while playing in the minor leagues, but were called up to the majors and now play for opposing teams.<br><br>Tommy and Wayne have managed to stay together through twelve closeted years. Being on different teams means they have to spend most of the …
Need Your Love
by Dean Frech
In June 1966, ACLU attorney Eron Lassiter attends his uncle’s wedding and makes an unsettling discovery. Though Eron had bowed to family pressure and planned a potential marriage, his long-ignored attraction to other men roars to life when Garrett Emerson, the bride’s nephew, captures his attention.<br><br>After serving in the Korean War and going to college later than his peers, upwardly mobile Garrett now works as a loan officer at a local bank. For his girlfriend -- fiancée in her mind -- Gar…