Opening Day at the County Fair
by J.M. Snyder
Jesse's a freeloader according to his father, a man he'll never please. Working on the farm is hard work and getting ready for the county fair a welcome respite from the daily grind. There he meets Davis.<br><br>The son of a local contractor, Davis is helping assemble the booths. He catches Jesse's attention immediately, and the two hit it off. If only they can ditch Jesse's sister long enough to get to know each other a little better ...
Cut Hand
by Mark Wildyr
Far from the world he knows, he’ll find a home. Among strangers, he’ll find acceptance. And in the arms of an unexpected man, he’ll find love.<br><br>Young Billy Strobaw comes West to escape the stigma of his Tory family. In the Dakota Territories, he encounters the Yanube warrior Cut Hand. Billy’s attraction to the other man is as surprising as the Yanube perspective on same-sex love. Unlike Europeans, the Siouan tribe celebrates such unions. Billy and Cut Hand can live as partners and build a …
Devil's Paw
by Dale Chase
Lloyd Lasky is a seasoned operative for the Whitlock Detective Agency in Denver that often infiltrates outlaw gangs in order to thwart stagecoach robberies. When he’s assigned to infiltrate the Bonner Gang based in Devil’s Paw, Arizona Territory, he’s unprepared for the personal ambush his heart suffers over gang member Frank Metty.<br><br>Taking up sex with Frank, Lloyd convinces himself that doing so is part of his job in solidifying his place in the gang and learning of their plans. But as ti…
Making the Holidays Happy Again
by Pat Henshaw
Closing in on thirty, Butch has lots of decisions to make -- from tiny to life-altering. Right away, he needs to find a kids’ craft to sponsor during the Old Town Holiday Festival. Next up, should he expand his blacksmithing business or remain a one-man shop?<br><br>Finally and most importantly, it’s time to decide about his personal life. Is this the Christmas he proposes to the love of his life and best friend Jimmy and risks his hopes and dreams being shot down? Or will he find Jimmy’s casual…
Heat Wave: Manheim
by Feral Sephrian
The start of the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire means Wes can finally get back to his seasonal job and distract himself from his recent messy break-up. There’s plenty for him to think about at the Faire, such as his role as a wandering flower merchant, the overwhelming August heat, and Carlo, who plays a handsome knight.<br><br>Carlo is the exact opposite of Wes’s ex, Phillip, who won’t let their relationship die easily. The young knight is sweet and caring and chivalrous, but Wes has sworn to h…
Hairy, Horny, and Over Here
by JL Merrow
Local news photographer Ethan is pretty sure there’s no such thing as a jackalope. Every bunny he's ever seen has been a cute little furry creature, not a dangerous, horned beastie. But somehow he lets big, tough American hunter Logan drag him into Parkhurst Forest on the Isle of Wight on what Ethan’s convinced is a wild goose chase.<br><br>Logan’s on a mission to wipe out the jackalope colony he’s convinced has been brought to the island by a madman. He’s got a healthy respect for the vicious c…
Cupid's Ax
by K.A. Masters
A traumatic event in his childhood keeps Tuxtax from being able to shift into his were-griffin form. Ashamed of his looks and terrified of rejection, he spends his life in seclusion, with his sister Eleuthereia and centaur friend Rixa as his only connections to the outside world. Even though Tuxtax yearns to be with the elfin soulmate he had met before the accident, the vanth’s insecurity and self-doubt keep him from reaching out.<br><br>But now Rixa needs his help. Tuxtax joins his friend on a …
Drag and Drop
by Etienne
After surviving the threat of a murderer and finding love with each other, George Martin and Mike Foster, best friends since childhood, are settling into a happy life. George's new promotion to the youngest captain in the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office keeps him busy, and his current case is no exception. The body of a fifty-year-old drag queen is found in the locked dressing room of a bar.<br><br>As George delves into the subsequent murder investigation, he uncovers a dangerous trail of murdered…
Nevermore, Dude
by L.J. Hamlin
Jamie joins his parents and sister for one last family vacation before his summers are his own. But he's unhappy he has to share a room with Chris, a football playing jock. Jamie has been bullied by jocks his entire life. Chris is everything Jamie isn't and doesn't want to be.<br><br>Chris is immediately attracted to his roommate Jamie. But Jamie proves to be elusive and non-communicative.<br><br>When an incident with their sisters breaks the ice, Jamie and Chris discover they have both stereoty…
The Seven Days of Christmas
by Edward Kendrick
Trey hates Christmas with a passion. Despite the fact he needs to deal with it because he owns a costume shop, it is an anathema to him because he broke up with his lover on Christmas Day three years ago.<br><br>Marty is a bartender at the local bar Trey goes to sometimes to unwind after a hectic day. He's more than a bit interested in Trey, but doesn't know how to let him know, especially since he'd never told Trey he's gay, too.<br><br>When Trey tells Marty he's suddenly shorthanded, with a we…
The Batboy
by Terry O'Reilly
Seventeen-year-old Thad Stevens loves baseball -- he’s loved it for as long as he can remember. Thad’s dream of becoming a batboy comes true when he’s chosen to be on the squad for the Buzzards, a local, semi-pro baseball team.<br><br>His duties put him in constant contact with his idol, shortstop Iggy Hernandez. Thad struggles with his growing attraction to the handsome ball player.<br><br>One day Thad accidentally discovers Iggy has a secret life. What will Thad do with this new information, a…
The King's Successor
by Wayne Mansfield
Two decades after first being brought to the royal court, Pan’s romance with King Seronisis has not cooled. Pan, approaching his fortieth year, casts his mind back to his childhood spent on the family farm, working in the fields all day, and to the few hours a week he had to himself whereby he would disappear into the Great Forest to wander and daydream.<br><br>The king has been doing some reflecting, too. He has become increasingly aware that, with the passage of time, he is one day soon going …
Flowers for the Gardener
by Sharon Maria Bidwell
A warm-hearted rich man's son, Richard Gardener needs to overcome three obstacles: find a way the family business can run without him, help his mother cope with grief, and stop butting heads -- and other parts of his anatomy -- with the gardener.<br><br>Ethan Fields has worked for the Gardener family for many years. He’s struggling with debt and the desire to leave, and has loved Richard far longer than the man would believe. Ethan can cope with most things, but his anger with Richard’s mother w…
Henry and Jim
by J.M. Snyder
A bittersweet short story about a lifetime love affair. Henry and Jim have spent a life in love, from the very first date arranged by Henry's sister, through the rocky times they worked to make ends meet, and into their twilight years.<br><br>Old men now, Henry reminisces about the love they've shared as he learns to cope with Jim's fading memory and his own fear of being forgotten by the only man he's ever loved.
Darkness Is Illuminating
by L.J. Hamlin
Wyatt is weary. He's been alive for more than two hundred years, and all that lies before him is at least another two centuries of the same tedium. The tales and legends of vampires are vastly more interesting than the reality.<br><br>After another night of failed attempts at finding someone to connect with, Wyatt heads home, more despondent and alone than ever ... and comes across a young man being attacked. Though blind by conventional standards, Wyatt is nowhere near as helpless as people lik…
All at Sea
by JL Merrow
Eighteen-year-old Londoner Josh feels all at sea, holidaying with his family on the Isle of Wight. He’d rather be living it up in Ibiza, dancing until all hours, and maybe finding out what it’s like to be with another man. What chance does he have of getting lucky with his newly-single mum and little sisters in tow?<br><br>Cambridge student Rupe is making the most of his summer job at the boating lake, charming customers with his good looks and theatrical manner. Life looks even sunnier when he …
Forbidden
by Wayne Mansfield
Michael is thirty-nine and gay. Like his little niece, Kim, who has a learning disability, he is considered a non-citizen under the draconian Normalcy Laws. Kim’s parents quietly arrange to flee to New Zealand, where the Normalcy Laws haven’t been implemented.<br><br>As Michael has a good job and has been careful to hide his homosexuality, he doesn’t consider going with them. Instead, he remains behind and goes about his business as normal until one morning when he is confronted by two Black Gua…
The Werewolf and His Boy
by Warren Rochelle
Their leap of faith could unleash magic ... or plunge them into darkness.<br><br>Henry Thorn has worked at Larkin's since graduating high school. He likes it -- especially when he can use his secret skill of hiding inside shadows so his boss can't find them. Without that talent, he would never had survived growing up different.<br><br>When a hire enters the store, Henry's other latent talent kicks in. He can smell an emotional response even before he lays eyes on the redhead.<br><br>Jamey Currey…
Tom's Turn
by Rafe Jadison
Tom Whitmore's feelings for Logan White began the first day he saw him back in middle school, but somewhere in those wild college years, Tom's crush turned to love.<br><br>A year after college, all that was well and good, and Tom had even learned how to deal with being in love with his straight best friend, until stupid Logan White ran off and married a complete stranger ... an older, gorgeous, wealthy stranger who looks like a soap opera star, and just so happens to be able to turn into a shark…
Private Nine
by R.W. Clinger
Alluring and sexy Private Maxim Nine is more than just an ex-military man. His day job is pushing papers across his desk at an insurance company. And in his spare time, he's a professional dancer.<br><br>When middle-aged Ben Enger, a party planner by trade, hires Nine to strip at a private birthday celebration, he learns a few things about the sturdy military man. Private Nine is far too handsome to study, he's currently boyfriendless, and Nine might just be strongly attracted to him for some st…