Books Tagged With potential trigger - murder

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

Summary: Finally working for a man he can trust has given Bill a new purpose. His boss, Christopher Manos, commands respect and absolute loyalty, and Bill has proven himself worthy of a seat at Christopher’s table. Becoming best friends with Christopher’s husband, Snow, has further proven his allegiance and cements a place for him in the Manos family. When Snow’s life is in danger, Christopher places his full trust in Bill to destroy anything and anyone that poses a threat to his husband. But hunting and wiping out the enemy for the safety of everyone Bill cares about means partnering with the one person he has vowed to never see again. Mace wears a mask of vain cockiness and uses his model good looks to his full advantage. Known to many as Without a Trace Mace, he’s a deadly assassin well known for wiping out whole families and getting away without a trace. With a dangerous past and an unknown future, Mace uses his veil of conceit to keep others at a distance, rarely trusting anyone. When his boss, Black--the one man he trusts above all others—gives him his next assignment, he learns his newest partner is none other than Bill, the man he’d do anything to avoid. With the safety of the Manos family on the line at the hands of a brilliant maniac, Bill and Mace begrudgingly put their differences aside to ensure Snow, and his loved ones, are protected from harm. With their lives in grave danger and the clock ticking towards zero hour, they navigate deathly perilous situations and uncertain outcomes, hoping they survive long enough to keep the Manos family safe. Bill and Mace’s traitorous hearts draw them closer together no matter how hard they fight the inevitable. With the lives of their loved ones hanging in the balance, they find themselves in the middle of a dangerous dance. But when the music stops, will they both be left standing?

Word Count: Click here to reveal71000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Berlin 1933: When the parties stop...the dying begins SHORT LISTED FOR 2023 MYSTERY LAMMY AWARD The city that’s been a beacon of liberation during the 1920s is about to become a city of deadly oppression. BBC foreign correspondent Simon Sampson risks his life in a bid to save thousands of gay men from the growing Nazi threat. This is the second in the Simon Sampson mystery series. The first, A Death in Bloomsbury, was hailed as ‘a good old-fashioned John Buchan-esque mystery reworked for the twenty-first century’. Simon moves to Berlin where he meets British author Christopher Isherwood and his lover Heinz. He’s also reunited with his banter-partner Florence Miles, better known to her friends as Bill. She’s recruited him into the British intelligence services and he’s got the task of hunting down communist spies. But when Simon is ordered to spy on an old college friend, his loyalties are brought into question. Who are his real enemies? And how much can he trust his masters?

Word Count: Click here to reveal311000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Everyone has secrets… but some are fatal. 1932, London. Late one December night Simon Sampson stumbles across the body of a woman in an alleyway. Her death is linked to a plot by right-wing extremists to assassinate the King on Christmas Day. Simon resolves to do his patriotic duty and unmask the traitors. But Simon Sampson lives a double life. Not only is he a highly respected BBC radio announcer, but he’s also a man who loves men, and as such must live a secret life. His investigation risks revealing his other life and with that imprisonment under Britain’s draconian homophobic laws of the time. He faces a stark choice: his loyalty to the King or his freedom. This is the first in a new series from award-winning author David C. Dawson. A richly atmospheric novel set in the shadowy world of 1930s London, where secrets are commonplace, and no one is quite who they seem.

Word Count: Click here to reveal111200 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: After surviving ten years in prison, Cameron Pierce is attempting to put the past behind him. He tries to adjust to his newfound freedom with a place at the halfway house and a job. But one lesson he learned in prison keeps him guarded: hope is a dangerous thing. Hunter Donovan, Assistant State Attorney, is a man of justice who loves a challenge. After a lifetime of putting his career first, a milestone brings him to a harsh realization—he's lonely. Hunter's world changes when he meets Cam. The wary young man intrigues him and awakens a desire unlike anything he's ever experienced. When Cam's past resurfaces and threatens to rip them apart, their budding relationship is challenged and Cam's hope for a future begins to dim. These outside forces hunting Cam will stop at nothing to send him back to prison. But they'll have to get past Hunter first. ---------- NOTE: Word count: 111,200. This story is a romantic suspense/mystery novel and the second installment in The Men of Halfway House series. Although characters reappear from book one, this story can be read as a stand-alone.

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 reveal47570 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Nigel wouldn’t mind if Asher called him Daddy if the age-gap didn’t bother him so much. Nigel Blackburn has lived a full like as a private investigator. His job means he travels solo a lot, which is something he enjoys. He’s a grouchy, stubborn dragon shifter who is better off alone. The last thing he wants is a mate and certainly not one so young. It doesn’t matter that he finds little bobcat shifter, Asher Burkhart, sexy. But all Nigel’s dragon wants to do is protect, which is good because danger drives into town. A Little Unsteady (Wingspan #4) is a continuation of Solid Ground (Wingspan #3). For the best reading experience, read them in order.

Word Count: Click here to reveal18282 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: The forest is withering, and with it, the guardian goddess Inaria's hopes of survival. The loss of the goddess's emerald heart has doomed the Forest of Grenarion, if it cannot be retrieved. Aiyana, a brave fae woman, takes it upon herself to reclaim the heart. If Inaria and the forest are to live, the goddess's luminous heart must be returned to her sacred grove, and there it must stay. This is a deeply personal quest for Aiyana, as she and Inaria have a sapphic soul bond. Long has she avoided it in favour of village life, but now she can't dismiss the feeling that her future and her unclaimed love have been stolen away. Who, really, is this mysterious goddess whose erotic touch she is yet to feel? All she knows of her is devotional prayers and dreams of the nature goddess gazing back at her. Aiyana doesn't know who's stolen the heart, but every year poachers, thieves and bandit gangs grow more brazen. Her village has been attacked before and its small militia readies for the day it will happen again. A Luminous Heart is a story of adventure, magic, and steamy sapphic love. It features two women who will realise their destiny and fight for what matters most – their world and each other.

Word Count: Click here to reveal145000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A story of healing and confronting demons… Detective Aidan Calloway is rock-solid strong. He's a man of justice—loyal to his friends, family, and job—even if it requires bending a law…or two. He shields himself behind an abrasive, fearless facade, until a phone call one night chips his armor and throws his perfectly planned, hollow life into a tailspin. Jessie Vega is the epitome of optimism. His carefully crafted attitude of hope and positivity protects him from a past filled with too much pain. When a ghost from a dark time resurfaces and nearly breaks him, he must tap into his inner strength or risk losing everything he's worked so hard to build. But Jessie can't do it alone. He must fight to break through Aidan's ironclad defenses to reveal the heart of the man hiding beneath the tough surface and mend his damaged spirit. Only then can they truly heal and become strong enough to battle the demons that haunt them and threaten their chance to finally be together. ---------- ***This book contains scenes and subject matter some readers may find distressing. It is only intended for adult readers.*** Word count: 145K Although part of a series and events from prior stories are referenced, this book can be read as a stand-alone.

Word Count: Click here to reveal45,000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Information not available

Summary: A Dom learns to love while Scotland Yard claims his time and a sociopath lays a trap for his sub. This is book 2 Vasquez Inc, a spinoff series from the popular Vasquez and James series. Jackie Vasquez knows he needs to submit to a Dom he can trust—just as much as he needs to manage his own life. He found the right Dom in Brian Harrison, and then romance beckoned them both beyond bindings and safewords. They take the first steps toward a life together in London, where Brian is pursuing his dream career at Scotland Yard, and Jackie is working toward a master’s degree. Their private hours deep in the night brim with both heat and beauty as Brian’s artful vision for bondage makes a masterwork out of Jackie, body and soul. But time together becomes scarce as a series of horrific gaslight crimes keeps Brian at work and out of reach for Jackie much of the time. Though Jackie is faithful, he isn’t the type to sit and wait for his lover’s attentions. His self-assured ways and his geocaching hobby lead him to a dangerous discovery—all is not as it seems at the University. Trapped in the Gaslighter’s web, he’ll need to use every trick he knows to stay calm and buy time. But will Brian unravel the knot of mystery in time to save the man he loves?

Word Count: Click here to reveal45,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Gay American Dom with a fabulous sub juggles romance and bondage with Scotland Yard police work. Book 1 in the the Vasquez Inc series, spinoff from Vasquez and James. When Brian Harrison first met Jackie Vasquez at a Hawaiian wedding, Jackie was sixteen and troubled. Six years later they meet again; Brian’s career at Scotland Yard is budding with promise, while Jackie’s student days at the University of Nebraska are rolling toward a strong finish. Magnetic mutual attraction pulls them insistently toward one another, but the ocean separating their lives makes for a simmering romance. When the waiting ends and they get together for a weekend in Denver, Dom Brian and sub Jackie both know they’ve tapped into something scalding hot, and much deeper than sharing an artful session. Shibari, lust, and love are all on the agenda -- but for Brian, so is his police career, and a strange series of crimes seems poised to threaten their romance -- and maybe their lives.

Word Count: Click here to reveal31000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Michelin Empyrean, a rare white raven, has lived for centuries and he’s tired of loneliness. What makes life more burdensome is increasing responsibility and leadership of socially inclined corvid shifters. Preventing his kind, ravens, and especially crows, from robbing and menacing humans who remain unaware of their existence takes its toll. When one wayward creature’s thieving antics come to his attention, Mich decides to personally take the man to task. Terrel Slade is a crow. Practically everything he owns is stolen. His stash of pretties, and the fact he’s never been caught, makes him proud as a peacock. As much as he’d like to be the beautiful bird he struts around imitating, he believes his crow is sexier. Terre is no more than an omnivorous crow shifter with a penchant for shiny objects. A cunning bird, his existence is crammed with innovative ways to irritate his archenemy, the raven. That’s about to change. When Michelin halts Terrel’s lifestyle, more than sparks fly—the whole damn forest might burn to the ground. #darkfantasy #drama #enemiestolovers #gay #HEA #paranormal #religerotica #romance #shifters #travel #violence

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

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

Summary: The would-be highwayman killer’s case is closed, and Luis has been cleared to return to work.  He and Donovan are starting their new life together, and while they’re both a little new at this whole “stable relationship” thing they’re determined to make things work.  When people start dying at Assonet Ledge, it seems like a typical case for Donovan until one of the victims turns out to be a missing person from out of state, bringing the FBI into one of Donovan’s cases yet again.   The park ranger at the site is everything Donovan isn’t, and Donovan finds himself wondering if his partner isn’t falling into old habits.  Luis struggles to understand Donovan’s jealousy, which puts a strain on their relationship and the case.  To top things off, there may be forces at work here that go back long before humans showed their faces, forces Luis can’t hope to understand. Will those forces propel the case, and Luis and Donovan’s rekindled romance, off a cliff?

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 reveal35640 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Can a straightlaced FBI agent fake a relationship with a mob rat long enough to close the case? There's only one way out of this family, but Tanner thinks he's found another one. He's going to fake a relationship with a straightlaced undercover FBI agent and help him take the organization down from within. That is, if the two of them don't strangle each other first. Maddox hates the Mob. He doesn't have a lot of respect for mob rats either. He knows why he was stuck with this case, and he's not thrilled about it. He wants the win, but having to play nice with gorgeous criminal Tanner might be more than he can take. When secrets come out, Tanner and Maddox will have to trust each other with everything they have. They may be opposites, but they're exactly what each other will need to get through this job with their bodies and souls together.

Word Count: Click here to reveal74,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A serial killer is stalking young gay men in a Midwest college town. High school senior Kevin Bland, rich, brilliant, and a wild-child, meets a college freshman, Mitch Christman, who is just Kevin’s type. And also the killer’s type. Adding to the mix is college sophomore Brent who enlists Mitch’s help in finding answers and possibly unmasking the killer. And all the while, Dr. Spencer Fellows, anti-gay crusader, and hate-monger, stirs the pot, praising the killer for ridding the city of gay men, one by one by one.

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.

Word Count: Click here to reveal25000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: No escape. No defence. One chance. Who'll make it out alive? Everyone knows that Demarn’s spellster tower is the safest place to be for those with magic. The site is shielded by mountains to west, by allies to the north, and their kingdom's army in the south whilst the whole kingdom stretches between them and the magic-reviling people patrolling the sea to the east. And yet, the enemy has breached the gates. They’ve issued no demands. Only death. Fleeing the tower and the ultimate demise is the one choice left. There is but one way out and the enemy holds more power than anyone could possibly anticipate. For those trapped within, their whole world is about to crumble.

Word Count: Click here to reveal14500 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Good and evil walk hand in hand. Hot, sexy times and instalove in mysterious places. Angels and demons love faster and harder for as long as they can because they know—a being more powerful can change their lives in the blink of an eye. Raziel Eden swiftly learns to blend in with humans and demons after being cast from Heaven by a stronger archangel who, for all his holiness, should reside in Hell. Raz’s club, MystEden, is a den of iniquity frequented by beings from both realms. Earth has become his private playground and he delights in tasting its many fruits though Raziel would trade it all to travel heavenward. Then a monster from Hell walks into his club; a satanic minion who captivates Raz with beauty and innocence. Surge Oberon possesses knowledge of many enigmas but he yearns to sit at Lucifer’s right hand wielding identical powers of an angelic counterpart, archangel Raziel, Heaven’s excommunicated keeper of secrets. He must convince Raziel to trade one confidence, a tale Surge’s master plans using to regain his throne in Heaven. What part will Surge play in Hell’s hierarchy should Satan succeed? Two beings seeking a path home—only one can win their battle of wits. Contains religious themes some will find offensive. #drama #explicit #gay #HEA #instalove #lgbtq #paranormal #religerotica #shortstory #travel

Word Count: Click here to reveal56000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Ash is dead. Okay, that’s a lie. He’s not. Not really. Somehow, that doesn’t make things any better. After reports of a fatal hovercar accident outside the Capital—complete with a charred body and DNA identification—it seems at first that all is lost in the Shadow Wing’s quest to infiltrate the Premiere’s inner circle. But one member of the vigilante group refuses to accept the evidence of his human comrade’s death. Draven knows Ash. He knows that devious mind, and more importantly, he knows the martyr complex that lies beneath it. He should know. Draven is also a master at hiding. He’s done it for most of his life. Now, though, he’s done living in the shadows. Can Draven track down a man who is so intent on not being found that he would stage his own death to prevent it? And if he does succeed in finding Ash, what then? No one ever said that emerging from the darkness of the past was easy. No one ever said that forbidden love was painless. Especially when the object of that love is convinced he’s damaged goods. * * * From USA Today bestselling author R. A. Steffan comes a sizzling sci-fi romance series, perfect for fans of J. R. Ward and Sherrilyn Kenyon. Strap in tight, because all's fair in LOVE AND WAR. Author’s note: While this book is part of a series with an overarching plot, it may be read as a standalone with a satisfying conclusion for the two main characters. If you do not intend to continue the series, you may wish to avoid the epilogue.

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

Summary: The search for the swords brings Douglas and Margaret back to England, where Mystere has hidden the sword Almace -- his own sword. Four months pass with no signs of Mystere, and Douglas and Margaret start to make plans to go in search of him. Then they accidentally become the caretakers of an injured street urchin. The boy — a sweep’s apprentice — tells them that there is something invisible haunting the rooftops of London, preying on the children who make their living there. In the absence of Mystere, Margaret insists that they need to help, but Douglas refuses. Margaret defies him and goes anyway, only to discover that what lurks on the rooftops is far worse than she had imagined -- Caedda has taken the rooftops of London as his domain. Worse, he has taken Mystere prisoner, he holds the sword Almace, and he knows that Margaret is there. Trapped on the roofs, unable to reach Douglas, Margaret has to rely on her wits and her memories in order to save Mystere, herself and her unborn child.