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Adrienne Wilder - Gray Zone - Skin Deep



Taylor Simmons has everything he's ever wanted: a decent job, a nice apartment, and Joey Martin, his perfect geek boyfriend. But all that is about to change.



First Joey gets sick. He's feverish for days, starving for food. Finally a terrified Taylor calls EMS only to be told there's nothing they can do. Joey's body is changing, and he's not going to be Human anymore. He's a Lesser-Bred.



Suddenly Taylor, who has always taken care of Joey, can't even begin to fulfill his needs. Joey needs to eat-to feed. And that means he needs a sexual connection with Gabriel, a Lesser-Bred being kept by a Kin named Pavel. Stripped of his job, his cushy apartment, and his connection to the sweet, dorky Joey he fell in love with, Taylor struggles to maintain a sense of identity-and humanity-in Atlanta's Gray Zone, where Human dreams become nightmares. Suddenly it's Taylor, not Joey, who needs to be protected. Because the people around him are dying, and if Taylor doesn't open his eyes, he might be next.



A Bittersweet Dreams title It's an unfortunate truth: love doesn't always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.



Anthology - Carved in Flesh



People often say that the true perfection in the human form is in its imperfections. Scars are visceral reminders of a person's past, a sign of an event that can never fade. Whether it was gained in combat, a traumatic experience, or part of a ritual with a lover, scars are the ultimate labels. They leave a permanent mark on the body and spirit that, one way or another, change a person forever.



Veld is an Elf who has known for years that his mute friend Oren is spoken for; the design of scars spanning Oren's torso reminds him with every look. When Oren's vowed, Haram, is killed, Veld must not only help to prove his own innocence, but also tread carefully as he discovers Oren's Right and Haram's last request. Next, Tiocfaidh Ár Lá—"our day will come"—was the cry in Joe Colson's heart, even as he fled his beloved Ireland to hide from his sins in the States. He'd assumed his chances for love were long past when a much younger man rekindles something in him he'd thought long dead.



A near-fatal car accident leaves superstar model Ashley's face permanently scarred and his career into a tailspin. Only his lover, Will, can pull him out of his depression, provided his affection hasn't turned to Faded Love. Young Timothy has come to Larry for Scar Therapy. But Tim is seeking healing of a different kind, and Larry finds that he has his own wounds that need tending. Garvin's scars are a Gift of the Goddess, seared into his skin as a beacon to find his kidnapped love, Nyle. Rescuing him, though, may entail a deeper wound than even the Goddess would bestow. Finally, when Kanovan returns from his off-world tour, his lover Mirin finds a lover's mark he hadn't expected. Mirin must re-evaluate how much Kanovan means to him, and what he must do to make Kanovan always Sojourn Home to him.



Diana DeRicci - Arbour Heights - Learning to Live



The Great Kitchen Flood begins one man's journey to find confidence and love.



Avery Storey has bought a house in a conscious effort to be more independent. Right before he moves in, the kitchen pipes malfunction. Lucky for him, one of his new neighbors is the same man Avery has begun to warm up to through his teller job. Gratefully, AJ comes to the rescue, because that's what neighbors do. A little romance blooms between the two men. Unfortunately, AJ blows his chance when he learns Avery is thirteen years his junior. Hurting for the sweet man across the street, he's forced to face what his life would be like without Avery at all, because being neighbors alone just would not be enough.



Genna Donaghy - Touch Me Not



In an alternate universe, where gender is less important than how dominant a person is, Jake Alric is the odd man out. While other subs spend their days trying to find their one true mate, Jake goes out of his way to avoid dominants. He's seen the dark side of soul bonds, and all he wants is to be left alone to tend his small Montana cattle ranch in peace.



When an oil company starts buying up land all around town, Jake comes under increasing pressure to sell. A chance encounter brings him into contact with one of his potential mates, Henry Waterstone, son of the man trying to buy Jake’s ranch and a handsome dominant who pushes buttons Jake didn't know he had. For the first time Jake is tempted by the true pleasure of being a submissive. But as Jake and Henry grow closer, a new player in the oil company rises up and threatens to sever their fragile connection. Suddenly the person Jake was most afraid to find becomes the one he’s most terrified to lose.



Hank Edwards - Venom Valley 2 - Stakes & Spurs



Dex Wells, former deputy of the prairie town of Belkin’s Pass, awakes to the sound of screaming. He is chained to the wall of a cave, prisoner of the powerful vampire Balthazar, who has turned many of the residents of Belkin’s Pass into vampires like him, and used most others as food. Balthazar keeps Dex as bait, hoping to lure Dex’s lover, Josh Stanton, into the caves and capture him. There is something different about Josh, Balthazar senses it, but what that difference is he can’t quite tell.



Josh Stanton can raise the dead. It’s a power he’s always had within him, and something he’s considered a curse. Now, however, he’s discovered that the risen dead can bite through vampire skin and bones. If he can just learn to control the power and, with it, the dead he’s resurrected, he might be able to save his lover, Dex, from Balthazar’s caves. But there’s still a bounty on Josh’s head for a murder he did not commit, and he ends up back in Belkin’s Pass with Glory, a half Indian, half white former saloon girl watched over by a Native American spirit. Together, they gather the few residents left alive and make a stand against the rampaging vampires and the wolves under their control.



The arrival of two members of the US Army, however, throws their careful plans into uncertainty as Josh is taken into custody. Can he convince the Army men the truth of their outrageous claims? And can Dex be saved before Balthazar turns him into a vampire as well?



Heidi Belleau & Amelia C. Gormley - The Professor's Rule 2 - An Inch at a Time



James Sheridan is failing history. Luckily, his professor is a rumored pervert, and James isn’t too proud to pay for a better grade with his body. Professor Carson lives up to his reputation, but he’s not unethical enough to take sexual bribes. What he can offer is some highly unconventional tutoring . . . creative use of a ruler included.



The deal? Studying, followed by a “quiz.” Wrong answer? Spanking. Right answer? Reward. Ace the final, earn some mindblowing sex. It’s harder work than sexual bribery, but it beats the volunteer tutors at the student center.



After a few study sessions, James realizes he wants way more than a grade from Professor Carson, even if he’s not sure what that is. Carson’s a silver fox, all right, but James isn’t “bent” the way Carson is, and for him, the spankings are only supposed to be a means to an end. But the better he gets at history, the more he realizes he likes getting answers wrong just as much as getting them right.



Kari Gregg - The Importance of Being Denny



Free novelette written for the Goodreads M/M Romance group's "Hot Summer Days" event.



Matt appears on Denny's doorstep four years after Matt's mother put Denny on the first bus out of California. Loving the very closeted Matt cost Denny everything once: his home, his family, the safety net of his trust fund. Everything. Denny built a new life. Matt finally coming out has stirred his mother's wrath, though, and four years of not loving Matt is about to cost Denny everything. Again.



Kate Pavelle - Steel City Stories 2 - Zipper Fall



Wyatt Gaudens, an advertising executive and adrenaline junkie, has fine-tuned the art of breaking and entering into apartments, misusing his considerable rock climbing skills. Once inside, he steals a pretty, shiny thing or two. When his friend Reyna complains that her jerk of a boss makes her workplace a living hell, he breaks into her boss's home to get even. More than any other pretty thing, what really catches his eye the most is her boss, Jack.



Working hard to overcome his own lingering problems, investment specialist Jack Azzuri focuses on his second chance at making his business grow. But grief for his sister, Celia, recently killed in a suspicious climbing accident, sabotages his attempt to start over. When he meets Wyatt, he's strongly attracted even though Wyatt is the last person he should associate with. With Jack's explosive temper and Wyatt's adrenaline addiction, the path to a stable relationship will be a tough climb. They might succeed if they can sort out what really matters, as well as learn to take the good with the bad. Wyatt hopes to speed their progress by solving the mystery that’s weighing Jack down: how did Celia really die?



Madeleine Marsh - The House at the End of the World



First came the dead, then the un-dead, and the battle between Good and Evil. Joe, Gabe, Emilie and Rick have seen it all; the flesh and blood, the survivors, the resistance. They might have even seen Death, and Satan driving a sports car. Now they’re here, wherever here is, in a house that seems to grant wishes. So if their wishes don’t extend beyond hot water, real food and a good night’s sleep, who’s to blame them? They owe their lives to Matt and Luke, two guys devoted to each other, who’ve spent their lives tracking and killing the things Hell spits out. But if they’ve been victorious, what happens to them now? After living in terror, moving from town to town and fighting inhuman creatures hell-bent on eating them, a safe, warm house feels very much like paradise. But even paradise has its downsides and only death is forever. This is the debut original novella by writer Madeleine Marsh. More information about her, and short stories featuring characters from the book, can be found at her website at