Books Tagged With potential trigger - traumatic past

Word Count: Click here to reveal82298 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: “You are only a prisoner when you surrender.” The second novel in The Iron Warrior series continues the edgy pairing of Gristle and Wynn. The former soldier's young lover has been too shamed to admit he’d been raped when he’d been ambushed and almost killed by two villainous druids. Throughout a series of adventures, the men are kept from a healthy partnership by Wynn’s harboring his secret and by Gristle’s own jealousies and superstitions. The two lovers find adventures both perilous and humorous in their trip from Derry to the seacoast of Ireland, then on to Wales and finally to Tara, the scene of Wynn’s recent capture. Into the uneasy relationship steps another warrior…Dub, the Wise Man (Ollamh) of the high king of Ireland, who had befriended and healed Wynn in the earlier book. Weakened by jealousy, the unconquerable Gristle lowers his guard, and he is savagely attacked. Now Wynn must join with his old mentor Dub in trying to save his life. And even if Gristle can be saved, how can the lovers ever be happy under the shroud of suffocating jealousy and buried shame?

Word Count: Click here to reveal68,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Casey Olson has always known he was destined to be a Navy SEAL, and the best day of his life was when he was accepted into training. The worst day was when a snapping bone ended his dream. After three combat tours in five years, Logan Carter left the Marines and self-destructed. Now he’s sober and, thanks to a forgiving ex with friends in high places, has a promising job as a civilian contractor. All he has to do is stay on the rails and out of a bottle, even when his demons won’t leave him alone. Logan likes his job, and he really likes the gorgeous man at the next desk. Casey tries not to check Logan out, but who is he kidding? From the start, despite their best efforts, neither man can resist the other. Sizzling chemistry leads to sex so hot they can both almost forget why they’re stuck in this office to begin with. It would be perfect, except Logan can’t stop reliving wars he’ll never forget and Casey can’t stop grieving the SEAL he’ll never be. And they’ll never have a future together until they can make peace with their pasts.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Five years ago, everything went wrong. Braden Kirk and Rafe Jessen’s long-term relationship started unraveling. They stopped talking, fears mounted, then Braden walked in on Rafe and another man, completely misreading the situation. Without giving Rafe a chance to explain, Braden walks out. Out of their home, their relationship, and the game development company they started together in college. After months of therapy to deal with the attempted rape Braden walked in on, Rafe begins to understand that his dominant tendencies in the bedroom aren’t a bad thing and that Braden’s submission is likely what scared his partner into silence. But Rafe isn’t ready to let go of the man he loves more than life itself. He arranges for himself and Braden to end up on the same charity cruise, knowing Braden won’t let his phobia—terror of vast, deep waters—rule him. With a plan and twenty-eight days, Rafe is determined to get Braden back, make him see there’s nothing wrong with being submissive, and find a way to get Braden to stay with him when they get home to LA.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: They come from different worlds, but their hearts beat in perfect harmony. Savion Once upon a time, my life was a fairytale. Engaged to a beautiful woman, we were planning our perfect future. Then, the sick act of an obsessed man ruined everything. Alone, disfigured, and betrayed, I fled to LA to focus on my work as a paleontologist. It was there I met Declan. The gorgeous Viking of a man awakens feelings within me I never knew existed. But no one could ever see beyond my scars, so how can I let myself get close to him? Declan Savion is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. The pain of his past allows him to understand my upbringing in a way no one has before. As I get to know him, I’m awakened to the possibility that I’m bi. I know a relationship with me would be a lot for him to endure. Not only am I much older than him, but my life in the limelight comes with a lot of media attention that can feel stifling. Even so, there’s something about Savvy that makes me ache to protect him. Whether he realizes it or not, I'm in deep and already hooked. For him, I will risk it all to prove my love. Will the stars align for us or burn out far too soon?

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Pansexual, Polyamorous, Straight, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: Once an exile, Matthias returns to lead his home Enclave and settles into a new life with his beloved Solomon. Struggling with his new role and responsibilities toward the new town of Sanctuary and the people who had once rejected him, he knows that the relative peace he’s found is temporary—the forces that destroyed Haven are still out there, and he knows that they’ll come looking for him. Until they do, there are alliances to make, mouths to feed, and people who look to him to protect them. Then tragedy strikes, sending Matthias, Solomon and Tam out once more, seeking answers in the forbidden north; answers that may lead to new beginnings, or to the end of everything they’ve ever known.

Word Count: Click here to reveal30081 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Aidan Williamson, just another Police Scotland constable in a tiny Highlands hamlet, is plucked from his routine life into a case of murder most foul. Still wincing from the wounds of a recent separation, Aidan keeps his emotional life tucked in his trousers, out of sight, until he encounters Kenneth Logan—a man in self-isolation at Devil’s Point. There’s a secret buried in those soul-deep eyes. How long before the rookie detective gives in to his almost sensual attraction to all that’s profoundly mystifying? And who will survive the killing field in a place Scots call The Demon’s Penis?

Word Count: Click here to reveal105000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Things are finally going well for Luka Valdari. He’s found a home and family at the Institute for Psionic Research, and he has a job he loves. When a training mission takes him back to the streets of downside Riga, he’s got plenty of reason to be uneasy, and when a psionic cry for help leads him to a nightmare from his past, Luka’s ready to bolt. Things are not going so well for Damon Korsov. He’s got voices in his head, a hole in his memory, and strange dreams that may or may not be glimpses of his past. The one man who might hold the key to Damon’s past is the one man he can never ask. Because somehow, Luka knows Damon, and it’s clear to Damon that Luka hates him. Unwilling to expose anyone else to the danger Damon represents, Luka volunteers to train him. He wants to hate Damon, but instead finds himself fascinated. Before they get a chance to sort things out between them, the two men are thrown into the middle of a terrifying plot that puts every human life in the galaxy at risk. Can Luka and Damon confront both of their pasts and work together to prevent disaster? Or will all the human worlds burn in the flames of wildfire psi? (~105,000 words)

Word Count: Click here to reveal23000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Travelling through the countryside in a stolen sea-green Cadillac, Xavi and Sam are both searching for something neither has the courage to admit to. But as the days slip away, Xavi isn’t sure he can keep his promise to stay with Sam; he isn’t sure about anything anymore. On the edge of the sea, in a field of wildflowers, Xavi finally realises that if they keep on going as they are, he’s going to lose Sam, in every way possible. And he can’t bear it. Loving Sam becomes the only truth Xavi knows, saving him the only thing that makes sense. Now he just has to convince Sam that life—and love—are worth fighting for.

Word Count: Click here to reveal45000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Winds of Change follows Ben and Alex as they face Allie's illness and embark on a new stage of their life together. For the first time in his life Ben can't control what is happening around him. As Ben tries to cope with the changes happening, Alex has to face his mother's wrath once more.

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

Character Identities: Click here to revealAromantic, Bisexual, Demisexual, Pansexual, Polyamorous (Click here to hide)

Summary: At last, it looks like the end may be in sight. Aria has all of her Companions by her side, and the Usurper Mannon has abdicated and sworn his allegiance to her as Heir to the Firstborn. The time has come to leave Terraces and claim the Palace, and Aria’s place on the throne. As they lay their plans, news comes from the north – the Palace has been attacked by Risha and her forces. People have been killed, and it is clear that something has been taken from the Palace. Discovering what has been stolen, and what secrets lay within the Palace walls will lead Aria and her Companions into a twenty-five year tangle of conspiracy and betrayal that will change everything that they believe, and everything for which they have been fighting.

Word Count: Click here to reveal20000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Society has collapsed, driven to madness after a great economic crash. Gangs roam the streets, taking any man, woman or child without a Mate for their own. Martin is on the brink of despair, an asexual man who cannot keep a Mate. Facing a life he cannot bear, he heads to Spire Rock to end it. But when he reaches it, he encounters Anael, an angel sent to assess the world for destruction—and the first to accept Martin exactly as he is. Teaming up with former gang concubine Sarah, they journey to the Tower of Elysius to end the world. But nothing is ever as simple as it seems, and some angels have plans of their own...

Word Count: Click here to reveal70000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Falling in love is easy, but staying in love... In a 1980’s alternate universe, ex-Necromancer Frank Hope quit his job at a corporation that slays demons for fuel to be with his onetime demon familiar, Kasimir. Now the lovers are being pursued by Frank’s ex-colleagues, a host of demons, and Demon Hunters. Frank and Kasimir must do everything they can to escape, but will their budding relationship survive the struggle? Determined, prickly Frank is trying to protect his lover, Kasimir, from Demon Hunters and Necromancers while rescuing his mother, who is suffering from dementia. At the same time, he battles doubts about his and Kasimir’s relationship. Will it last? Will he screw it up like he seems to do everything else? Does an ex-villain like him even deserve happiness? Kind, gentle Kasimir is an Eternal, called a demon by every human on Earth except his beloved Frank. Being far from home and chased by people who would kill him and use his essence for fuel is only bearable because he is with his lover. Everything seems to be against them, but his and Frank’s fated love for each other is unshakable. Or is it? This is the second book of the Love Songs for Lost Worlds Trilogy. It weaves paranormal gay romance with themes of redemption and true love.

Word Count: Click here to reveal16000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Mitchell Wright expected to die when he was captured by hunters. When they chained him and left him in the bush, he hoped to die fast. Instead, his fated mate showed up and saved him. Now he has to deal with his injuries for the rest of his life and he’s a familiar to a witch he doesn’t even know. Coven Agent Penrith Flint thought he was saving the wolf shifter's life, not finding himself a familiar. Because of how it happened—the wolf didn’t consent to becoming his familiar—he’s desk bound with his job on the line, while praying to the Fates to let the bond fade. After four months it hasn’t. When Mitchell turns up just before Christmas to see him, Penrith needs to decide if he’s willing to let the wolf into his life and risk his heart one more time. While neither of them wanted a fated mate, it is the gift they both need. One wounded wolf shifter and a slightly bitter blood witch come together to discover that while love may not heal wounds, it makes them easier to bear and that finding Mitchell a pack is the family they both need. For readers who like fated mates, found family, and wounded heroes.

Word Count: Click here to reveal104000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Ghost, once known as the cub Luca, is finally home. Back among his kind and learning what it means to be both a man and a shaman, Ghost battles the expectations of his people, his family, and the pressures of a society that is both foreign and familiar. His power is greater than any seen before, dwarfing that of even the legendary Shaman Gray Shadow—and his union with Kane places him in the center of a controversy that rattles wolfkin society around the world. Kane, greater alpha and Heir to Black Pine Clan, has finally defeated the traitor and murderer that destroyed the heart of Black Pine years before. Freed at last from guilt and pain, Kane has a new enemy to face: his own people. Placed on trial for violation of Law and blasphemy, Kane will have to fight to the death to preserve his bond with Ghost and keep his mate and people safe. The soulbond between Ghost and Kane is forged by the creator and Goddess of the wolfkin. Usually, a sacred and treasured union that honors the pair and their clans, this soulbond is seen not as a gift, but a threat to eons of tradition and Clan Law. The union of a Shaman and Alpha is anathema—but how to reconcile that belief when it is the wolfkin Goddess who forged it? Can Ghost and Kane save themselves, preserve their bond, and find a new future when the laws of the ancient past threaten to tear them apart?   **This book is part of a series and is not standalone. Prior books should be read to understand content. 104,000 words. Brief flashbacks of sexual assault and abuse. Mature content and violence.*** Gay Paranormal Shifter Romance

Word Count: Click here to reveal20000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Zeke is a hermit in his late forties who lives a quiet life in a small cabin in the Western Montana mountains, a few miles outside of Thompson Falls. He’s gotten used to being alone since the end of the world, and has everything he needs. Everything but someone to talk to. Nathan is a younger man on a cross-country trek, searching the country for someone... anyone still alive. Saddled with a ghost from his old life and a case of OCD, he stumbles upon Thompson Falls and a pack of rabid dogs. Rescued by Zeke, he has to figure out how to be human again. And with Christmas just a week away, both men have to figure out if there’s something left to be hopeful for, and if they might have a future together.

Word Count: Click here to reveal110000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Courage. Honor. Loyalty. All fine things, but they’ve led John Ringo to kill a man. He was raised right and he knows he’s not a murderer, but it’s already too late. He’s lost his soul, and his demons are real. Doc Holliday is fascinated by this man who claims to have a demon lover – the son of the Devil, no less! Doc promised himself a few months of debauchery before he meets up with his dearest friend, Wyatt Earp – and the troubled Johnny Ringo is as dissolute as Doc desires. In between times they talk, and Doc suspects that he alone can see Ringo’s complexities and help him understand himself. The affair grows dangerously close to meaning something… But Doc’s deep-seated love for Wyatt outweighs his affection for Ringo, and they part, despite Doc assuming that Wyatt will never return his feelings in kind. Which leaves Johnny Ringo prey to his demonic distractions. Imaginary or not, if this creature abandons him, too, then surely his sanity is forfeit – and what will his life be worth then? This Queer Weird West novel follows these three along the complex trails that lead into and out of Tombstone, Arizona in 1881.

Word Count: Click here to reveal60000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: The year: 2238. The Culture Wars are in full swing, with the Freedom Alliance fighting the Moral League for control of Washington D.C., which now stands in ruins. The symbols of America have been looted and destroyed, but the war goes on for the P.R. campaign, with both sides trying to claim they have won the nation. Gabriel Green, runaway from the League, joins the Alliance’s Ground Force to fight back against the persecution and oppression he has witnessed. Sent to the front in the midst of a bitter winter, a mortar hits his position and he is wounded. He finds an unlikely savior in the form of Angel Ramirez, a devoutly religious albino League medic with a heart of gold and a big secret. Doubting the war they once both believed in, Gabriel and Angel trade the battlefield for exile on the neutral Melvana Colony, but Angel struggles to reconcile his religion with his feelings for another man. Torn between two sides of a war, Angel must find a middle ground between faith and love or risk losing both forever.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Aven’s world is frustratingly simple. He lives far out at sea for reasons that his parents will never discuss with him, telling him only that life on land isn’t safe. Then the discovery of a storm-damaged ship with a single survivor reveals the truth. He is the Waterborn, one of the five chosen by the Mother Goddess to save the world. And the world is far more complicated than he ever dreamed, and far more terrifying. Forced to leave behind the only life he’s ever known, Aven must learn quickly how to survive on land, and how to protect his newfound loves from the unknown menace hunting them. Can Aven fulfill his destiny and save the world? Or will this quest cost him everything?

Word Count: Click here to reveal30,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary:

A voice actor out of the closet. A boyfriend in the tabloids. Can their love survive the trappings of fame?

Aoi is more comfortable in the recording studio than in the limelight. But when his boyfriend persuades him to come out on national TV, he skyrockets from D-list adult voice actor to gay icon. Caught in a whirlwind of fame, Aoi worries the wear and tear will be too much for his vocal cords—and his heartstrings—to handle.

Sato is a diehard fan of geek culture and his dreamy boyfriend. So when Aoi’s newfound star power gives him a chance to voice a favorite anime character, Sato’s over the moon. But after doctors diagnose Aoi with a career-threatening throat condition, Sato doesn’t know which is worse—the relentless rumor mill or his crushing guilt for pushing the man he loves to the brink of ruin.

In the midst of a media frenzy and medical emergencies, can Aoi and Sato’s love survive, or will it be silenced forever?

Year Three is a heartwarming gay romance with a unique Japanese setting. If you like steamy chemistry, Japanese anime culture, and emotional journeys of overcoming the odds, then you'll adore Amy Tasukada’s pitch-perfect slice-of-life anthology collection.

Word Count: Click here to reveal66,759 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary:

Yield

A Sequel to Forged in Trust

Bay Area Professionals

A promising encounter takes a dark turn.

Captain Sami Soros and Father Jay Blackstone cross paths at a major European hub. When systems shut down due to a cyber-attack, flights are delayed and the resulting chaos is unprecedented.

After having served three tours in Afghanistan, recently discharged Sami struggles with his new civilian status. Emotionally depleted, and dangerously edgy, he views most of his fellowmen with utter contempt.

Jay is returning to his parish in San Francisco after a month-long retreat meant to shore up a crumbling vocation. All vestiges of spirituality melt away when he sets eyes on Sami.

They begin a clandestine affair fueled by a shared addiction to extreme forms of BDSM. Their relationship goes off the rails, and Jay reaches out to Rino Duran, a former seminarian. With the help of Dr. Ethan Marshall, Rino’s full-time Dom, the established couple attempt to separate truth from lies to give Jay and Sami a shot at happiness.