Books Tagged With where - country - new zealand

Word Count: Click here to reveal115000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Blurb: I don’t like labels and I’m happy that way, but it’s taken a long time to get here. A jerk of a father, too many bullies to name, and a string of dipshit boyfriends whose interest in me rarely made it past the skirts I sometimes wear. Suffice to say, my faith in men runs a little thin. The last thing I need is a gruff, opinionated, fiery, closeted, Paralympian jock messing with my hard-won peace. Miller Harrison is a wrinkle in my life I could definitely do without. I have a job that I love at Auckland Med., a boss who understands me, and a group of friends who accept me as I am. I should walk away. But Miller knows a thing or two about living life against the grain, and that hope I thought I’d buried a long time ago, is threatening to surface.  

Word Count: Click here to reveal120,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Blurb Crossing The Touchline by Jay Hogan What if you’ve worked your whole life for a dream, to play rugby for the most successful sports team on the planet, the New Zealand All Blacks? What if that dream is so close you can smell it? What if you meet someone? What if you fall in love? What if your dream will cost the man who’s stolen your heart? And what if the dream changes?   Reuben Taylor has a choice to make. Cameron Wano is that choice.   Part of the Auckland Med. series that includes ‘First Impressions’ Can be read as a standalone.  

Word Count: Click here to reveal128000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: 2020 LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD FINALIST IN GAY ROMANCE Drake Park has a complicated life. As a gay male midwife, he’s used to raising eyebrows. Add Crohn’s Disease and things get interesting - or not, considering the sad state of his love life. Experience has taught Drake that most men are fair weather sailors when it comes to handling his condition - gone for dust when things get rough. Staying healthy is a fulltime job without adding in any heartbreak, so a little loneliness is a small price to pay. If he says it often enough he might even believe it. One thing for sure, the cop who arrested him isn’t about to change that. Caleb Ashton does not have a complicated life. A senior detective with the Whangarei Police Department, he likes his job and is good at it. He works hard and plays hard, happy to enjoy as many men as he can while he’s still young enough - or at least he was. These days he feels adrift for the first time in his life, and the only thing sparking his interest - a certain prickly young midwife. Can Drake find enough faith to risk opening his heart again? And does Caleb have what it takes to cope with the challenges Drake’s condition presents?  

Word Count: Click here to reveal59000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: The chance of a lifetime or their final performance? Owen Stanton has been a member of the Kiwi band Flightless since high school. So far, he’s managed to walk the fine line between playing fiddle for the band and pursuing his classical violin career. An opportunity arises to audition for a prestigious string quartet, and Owen takes his family’s advice to go for it. After all, it’s not like he’s going to make the cut, right? And if he does, the decision won’t have to be made until after the band’s highly anticipated performance at a popular New Zealand music festival. Jared Murphy joins Flightless when their keyboard player faces a family crisis and needs to take a break. Soon he and Owen are writing music together and creating something beautiful between them. It’s a shame it won’t last. After all, Jared’s only standing in. When the once in a lifetime invitation comes for the band to play at Rocktoberfest, decisions need to be made, even if taking the right path may end up in divided roads. Divided Road is a book in the multi-author Road to Rocktoberfest 2024 series. Each book can be read as a standalone, but why not read them all and see what trouble our bands get into next? Hot rockstars and the men who love them, what more could you ask for? Kick back, load up your kindle and enjoy the men of Rocktoberfest!

Word Count: Click here to reveal73000 (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… Someone is hunting supernaturals.  Vampire Simon Hawthorne and his human partner Ben Leyton’s plans for a peaceful holiday with family are hijacked by the New Zealand Supernatural Council. Tensions are on the rise in Wellington. Supernatural councillors are disappearing. Werewolves are suspicious of anyone human or vampire. If they don’t work together, their enemy has already won. And no one with a connection to the supernatural world is safe.

Word Count: Click here to reveal98,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Michael: Two years ago I made a mistake, a big one, and then I threw in another couple just for good measure. I screwed up my life big time but I made it through. I was lucky. Then I was given the opportunity for a fresh start. Two years in Auckland, New Zealand. Away from the LA gossip, a chance to breathe, to get my life back together. I grabbed it and packed my new set of golden rules with me. I don’t do relationships. I don’t do commitment. I don’t do white picket fences. And I especially don’t do arrogant, holier-than-thou, smoking hot K9 officers who walk into my ER and rock my world.   Josh: The only thing I know for certain about Dr. Michael Oliver is the guy is an arrogant, untrustworthy player, and I’d barely survived the last one of those in my life.  Once was more than enough. The man might be gorgeous but my eleven-year-old daughter takes number one priority and I won’t risk her being hurt, again. I’m a solo dad, a K9 cop and a son to pain in the ass, bigoted parents. I don’t have time for games. I don’t have time for taking chances. I don’t have time for more complications in my life. And I sure as hell don’t have time for the infuriating Dr. Michael Oliver, however damn sexy he is.  

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: FOXED: To be thrown into a state of uncertainty—flustered, bamboozled, bewildered, puzzled, vexed. AKA, me. Jed Marshall. 55-year-old successful classic car mechanic; divorced, mostly closeted, and whose wholly inexperienced bisexuality has suddenly awakened after one smouldering look and said, ‘Damn, who’s the hottie?’ Or words to that effect. Cue, Nash Collingwood. 53-year-old scarily smart high school principal; out, gay, confident, and sexy as hell. He’s also my daughter’s boss. So, not complicated at all, right? Nash could ignite a bonfire with a single sultry look, comes fully accessorised with a charm offensive Churchill would be proud of, an easy-going flattery that thrills my heart far too effortlessly, and an impressive track record with men many decades my junior. In short, Nash is everything I’m not, and everything I’ve avoided for roughly my entire life. He’s the hot rod to my sensible family car, that is if you like your family cars with a few dents, creaky suspension, unexpected backfires, and a dodgy stick. The last thing I need is a relationship—especially with a man. I buried that pipe dream a long time ago and a little loneliness is a small price to pay. The festive season and long summer vacation are on our doorstep. I’m finally getting things right with my family who mean everything to me, and I don’t want to mess that up. But Nash doesn’t care about my awkward inexperience, or clumsy excuses, or any of my insecurities. Nash only sees me. He wants me. For the first time in years, I feel alive and sexy and a whole lot more than just a good father and grandfather. I should walk away, but the closer Nash and I become, the more he fills my grey world with colour, and the promise of a second chance at love I never thought possible.

Word Count: Click here to reveal10000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary:

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Information not available

Summary: Karma. You reap what you sow, and KANE MARTIN isn’t looking for forgiveness. But the arrival of ABE TYLER in Painted Bay has Kane dreaming of the impossible. The sexy, silver fox choreographer is determined to pull Kane out from the shadows, but Abe’s career isn’t about to shift to Painted Bay, and Kane’s life is in neat little boxes for a reason. A past he isn’t proud of. A family he’s walked away from. A job he doesn’t deserve. A secret he’s ashamed of. But life’s dance can make for unexpected partners, and learning to trust and keep up with the footwork is the name of the game. Two steps forward, one step back. It takes two to tango.

Word Count: Click here to reveal26000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: One Witch One Paranormal Investigator Something that went bump in the night… Library witch Basil and YouTuber Sebastian have settled into life together in the sleepy suburb of Mt Eden. Basil is overjoyed to have a handsome boyfriend to come home to and he is connecting deeper with his magic. But when strange books start to turn up at his library and an uninvited guest makes noises in their attic, it's up to them to investigate. As a paranormal YouTuber, Sebastian can't resist a new mystery. Especially since he’s been in one place for far too long… Is his enthusiasm for the next story going to ruin everything? ******************************* Monsters and Manuscripts is a novella-length story featuring monsters, witches and a sweet gay romance. It's part of the Witchy Fiction project of New Zealand authors. Monsters and Manuscripts is part of a series and best read after Overdues and Occultism. You can read more about Sebastian and Basil in Jingle Spells: Witchy Christmas Stories

Word Count: Click here to reveal113,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Leroy Madden is in trouble. Big, handsome, Fox Carmody trouble. Leroy has buried his attraction to the enigmatic fisherman in irritation and pointless bickering, keeping Fox at a safe distance. But with the troublesome man now living in Leroy’s house, it’s becoming impossible for Leroy to keep his true feelings hidden, or the fact that Leroy maybe isn’t so straight, after all. Leroy hungers for something different between them. He wants more. But Leroy’s business is struggling, his newly mended relationship with his brother is at risk, Fox doesn’t plan to stay, and their mothers are lovers. Regardless of what Leroy’s heart so desperately wants, his entire world is at stake, and nothing about a relationship with Fox Carmody was ever going to be easy.

Word Count: Click here to reveal104,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Penn from Adelaide. That’s all I knew. We shared a single kiss over a year ago, and I can still remember every toe-curling second of it. He thought I was too young for him. I thought he was running scared. But that kiss was the first time I’d felt alive in a long time, and I’ve been chasing the feeling ever since—doing my research, a lot of research, a lot of men. Something my protective older brother isn’t too happy about. I’ve been through more than most guys my age, and I still bear the scars. My head’s not always my best friend, but I’m building a life, PTSD be damned. I can’t turn back the clock, and I’m not sure I want to. Except maybe to that moment when Penn kissed me. I mean, the odds of us ever meeting again were slim to none, right? Yeah, about that. But this time I’m ready. I’m a year older, an ocean of therapy wiser, and I know exactly what I want.   Triggers: One of the main characters in this book lives with PTSD as a result of a fire and within the story there are flashbacks and descriptions of triggering events. There are also themes of loss and grief.  

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

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

Summary: A magical bookshop holds the keys. When Mason Chynoweth inherits an old house in small-town New Zealand, he hopes to discover what happened to his great-great uncle Lewis after he returned from the war in 1945. Mason’s first encounter with the property is thankfully reassuring—his sensitive psychic powers aren’t triggered and he has a calm sense of coming home. Elijah Whitaker arrives in Kedgetown for an extended visit with his aunts. He’s quickly drawn to Mason and offers to help him try to find some answers in the dusty old house. It soon becomes clear that Mason is keeping secrets, but Elijah has a few secrets of his own. Like his closely guarded knowledge of the hidden supernatural world, and the fact that many of the townspeople are psi and supernaturals. What is the connection between the house and Postscript, the town’s enigmatic bookshop? Mason’s glimpses of the past give some clues, but not enough to make sense of the puzzle. When a hidden journal comes to light, the true story of Lewis’s journey is revealed, and his path and Mason and Elijah’s begin to intertwine.

Word Count: Click here to reveal82000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: ETHAN SHARPE is living every young Kiwi’s dream—seeing the world for a couple of years while deciding what to do with his life. Then he gets a call.Two days later he’s back in New Zealand. Six months later his mother is dead, his fifteen-year-old brother is going off the rails and the café he’s inherited is failing. His life is a hot mess and the last thing he needs is another complication—like the man who just walked into his café, a much older… sinfully hot… EPIC complication. TANNER CARPENTER’s time in Queenstown has an expiration date. He has a new branch of his business to get up and running, exorcise a few personal demons while he’s at it, and then head back to Auckland to get on with his life. He isn’t looking for a relationship especially with someone fifteen years his junior, but Ethan is gorgeous, troubled and in need of a friend. Tanner could be that for Ethan, right? He could brighten Ethan’s day for a while, help him out, maybe even offer some… stress relief, no strings attached. It was a good plan, until it wasn’t.

Word Count: Click here to reveal64843 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Music speaks directly to the heart. Joel is a music teacher who knows it’s time to forget his ex and move on, while Marcus runs a lawn-mowing business and has come to Wellington to escape the reminders of a recent breakup. Although they’re opposites, when Joel and Marcus connect, their romance has the potential to hit all the right notes. Too bad neither of them feels ready for new love. With family and friends in common, dating is risky and things could get messy if it doesn’t work out. When the sweet song of possibility draws them towards romance, a Chopin prelude ends in a seductive kiss.  But it will take some practice and perseverance to find their perfect harmony… Author’s note: This is the second edition of Prelude to Love. The first edition was released by another publishing house. This edition has some added content, and has been revised and re-edited with the end result being a better, stronger story. It uses New Zealand spelling to reflect its setting.

Word Count: Click here to reveal338 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: For two years I’ve kept Leon Steadman at a safe distance, ever since the night he turned me down flatter than a pancake with a side order of syrupy disapproval. His loss. The world is full of sexy men. One and done is simply good math and efficient use of my time. Or it would be if I hadn’t been lusting after the irritating, judgemental, gorgeous, mountain of a man, ever since. The less I see of Leon, the better. Bad enough that his tattoo business sits next to Flare, the fashion store I manage, and that he’s friendly with my boss. But now he’s apartment-sitting above the shop, as well. Every time I turn around, Leon is there. In my store. In my space. Messing with my head. Being all nice and charming and acting like maybe he’s not the biggest jerk to walk the earth, after all. Well, I don’t want or need Leon’s apologies, but maybe if I can have him, just once, it might put an end to this ridiculous hunger that sparks every time I lay eyes on him. Yeah, I’ll get back to you on that.

Word Count: Click here to reveal19017 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Should he change the past for love?   As an agent for the Tempus Institute, Jason Adams’ task is to observe the past, not change it. But when he’s sent to 21st-century Wellington, New Zealand, during the last week of aspiring songwriter Sean Henderson’s life, Jason finds he can’t just watch from a distance. He and Sean quickly become friends and then lovers, and when the song that's haunted Jason for years connects them in a way he never anticipated, he'll risk changing history for the chance of sharing a future with Sean.   Author’s note:  This story was originally published in 2012 by another publisher. This edition has some added content, and uses UK/NZ spelling to reflect its setting.  

Word Count: Click here to reveal48,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: by Lou Sylvre and Anne Barwell Kiwi Nathaniel Dunn is in a fighting mood, but how does a man fight Wellington’s famous fog? In the last year, Nate’s lost his longtime lover to boredom and his ten-year job to the economy. Now he’s found a golden opportunity for employment where he can even use his artistic talent, but to get the job, he has to get to Christchurch today. Heavy fog means no flight, and the ticket agent is ignoring him to fawn over a beautiful but annoying, overly polite American man. Rusty Beaumont can deal with a canceled flight, but the pushy Kiwi at the ticket counter is making it difficult for him to stay cool. The guy rubs him all the wrong ways despite his sexy working-man look, which Rusty notices even though he’s not looking for a man to replace the fiancé who died two years ago. Yet when they’re forced to share a table at the crowded airport café, Nate reveals the kind heart behind his grumpy façade. An earthquake, sex in the bush, and visits from Nate’s belligerent ex turn a day of sightseeing into a slippery slope that just might land them in love.

Word Count: Click here to reveal47,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Currently out of publication. A New Zealand Romance Fog at Wellington's airport leads two men to an impromptu road trip. Destination? Could be love! Kiwi Nathaniel Dunn is in a fighting mood, but how does a man fight Wellington's famous fog? In the last year, Nate's lost his longtime lover to boredom and his ten-year job to the economy. Now he's found a golden opportunity for employment where he can even use his artistic talent, but to get the job, he has to get to Christchurch today. Heavy fog means no flight, and the ticket agent is ignoring him to fawn over a beautiful but annoying, overly polite American man. Rusty Beaumont can deal with a canceled flight, but the pushy Kiwi at the ticket counter is making it difficult for him to stay cool. The guy rubs him all the wrong ways despite his sexy working-man look, which Rusty notices even though he's not looking for a man to replace the fiancé who died two years ago. Yet when they're forced to share a table at the crowded airport café, Nate reveals the kind heart behind his grumpy façade. An earthquake, sex in the bush, and visits from Nate's belligerent ex turn a day of sightseeing into a slippery slope that just might land them in love.

Word Count: Click here to reveal90,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: CASSIDY MARTIN is a country boy through and through. He loves his horses, his Lord of the Rings tourist business, and his isolated paradise at the foot of New Zealand’s Southern Alps. Not that everyone appreciates the seclusion he craves. Take his ex-wife for example. The sexy-as-hell guy on his latest tour might be whip-smart and push all of Cass’s buttons, but he’s about as country as a pair of Louboutins, and Cass has been there and done that. Broken heart with the T-shirt. STEFAN HAMILTON doesn’t do ‘outdoorsy’, he’s a city boy, born and bred. The closest Stef gets to the country is ‘Cowboy Night’ at his favourite Auckland gay bar even if the music makes Stef want to rip his hair out by the roots. But Stef is also a hardcore Lord of the Rings fanboy. So, when he gets the chance to go on a horse trek to the iconic film locations in the Southern Alps, he sucks up his fear of the gigantic animals and his allergy to camping for the chance to let his nerd flag fly. But when his mate pulls out at the last minute, Stef is left to negotiate the horses, the wrath of mother nature, and an inconvenient crush on the cowboy leading the tour. City meets country and the sparks fly.