Books Tagged With what - topic - corruption

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 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 reveal50,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Kink and wedding vows can’t stop danger, but love gives a Dom and his sub courage to fight. After too much time apart from his lover and sub, Brian Harrison is thinking kink, a cowboy hat, and one more marriage proposal. When Jackie Vasquez finally says “yes” to a wedding, he also says, “why wait?” But their vows and the toasts to the happy couple have hardly faded when a phone call reminds them that trouble still awaits. Despite his best intentions, Brian broke the law in his efforts to stop a powerful criminal from harming those he loves. He could go to prison, or he could risk his life going undercover to help bring one of Europe’s most nefarious citizens to justice. Friends and smart thinking can help him do the right thing. But only love can supply the courage he and Jackie need to prevail against schemes and guns and, if they’re lucky, stay alive to enjoy a honeymoon.

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

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

Summary: New Hopeland was built to be the centre of the technological age, but like everywhere else, it has its dark side. Assassins, drug dealers and crooked businessmen form a vital part of the city’s make-up, and sometimes, the police are in too deep themselves to be effective. But hey, there are always other options … For P.I. Cassie Tam, business has been slow. So, when she’s hired to investigate the death of a local VR addict named Eddie Redwood, she thinks it’ll be easy money. All she has to do is prove to the deceased’s sister Lori that the local P.D. were right to call it an accidental overdose. The more she digs though, the more things don’t seem to sit right, and soon, Cassie finds herself knee deep in a murder investigation. But that’s just the start of her problems. When the case forces Cassie to make contact with her drug dealing ex-girlfriend, Charlie Goldman, she’s left with a whole lot of long buried personal issues to deal with. Then there’s her client. Lori Redwood is a Tech Shifter, someone who uses a metal exoskeleton to roleplay as an animal. Cassie isn’t one to judge, but the Tech Shifting community has always left her a bit nervous. That wouldn’t be a problem if Lori wasn’t fast becoming the first person that she’s been genuinely attracted to since splitting with Charlie. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of the police wanting her to back off the case. Easy money, huh? Yeah, right.

Honorable Mention: Rainbow Awards 2017 - Lesbian Sci-Fi Category

Word Count: Click here to reveal121000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A child’s memory. A journey’s end. Lance doesn’t remember the time before Ulfr found him. It’s a dark pit in his mind that he avoids at all costs. And yet, despite his best efforts, pieces start to fall, and echoes from the past begin to ring. However, he has little time to comprehend their meaning, since the Captain of the Imperial Army herself has come to collect him and bring him to the capital city of the Nifdem Empire. Whisked away to the gilded streets and glittering court of the Hill of Tarran, and then to the snowy reaches of Swenen, Lance and Gust will learn the answers to questions they’ve had from the start. And be forced to acknowledge their roles in the survival of the empire and the ripple effects of their actions. But such knowledge can come at a steep price. As allies and enemies begin to step from the shadows, Lance will learn the truth of his past and the price of his redemption, and all the pain that comes with them. While Gust will have to decide what he’s willing to sacrifice to safeguard the one he loves.

Word Count: Click here to reveal93000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGenderfluid, Lesbian, Non Binary, Pansexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: When a change in collective conscious sends the Outsiders, a group of aliens, to the shadows below the city, humans reason that the demonization of their peers is simply more “humane.” There’s no question, nor doubt. Just acceptance. Lydia had embraced that sense of “truth” for as long as she can remember. The daughter of a powerful governor, she has been able to live her life with more comforts than most. Comforts can be suffocating, though, and when the opportunity to teach Outsider children in their private, “humane” community becomes available, she takes it. What she finds beneath the city is far from the truth she had grown to know. There she meets Alessia, an Outsider with the knowledge and will to shake the foundation of all those who walk above ground. The two find a new and unexpected connection despite a complete disconnect from the technological world. Or perhaps in spite of it. Still, it takes a lot more than an immutable connection to change the world. Lydia, Alessia, and a small group of Outsiders must navigate a system of corruption, falsehoods, and twists none of them ever saw coming, all while holding on to the hope to come out alive in the end. But it’s a risk worth taking, and a future worth fighting for.

Word Count: Click here to reveal75000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: The rings have been selected. The champagne placed on ice. The cake decorated. And the pre-wedding sex is off the charts... Lucas Vallois and Andrei Hadeon are finally ready to walk down the aisle. There’s just one small problem. A ghost from Lucas’s past shows up days before the wedding, desperate for help. Against his better judgement, Lucas and his best friend, Ashton Frost, plan a fast trip back to the one place they swore they’d never go: their hometown in Oklahoma. But the danger is worse than they expected. Now, they’re in a race to track down a killer, keep a young girl safe, and get Lucas back in time to say, “I do.”

Word Count: Click here to reveal76000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A second chance to say ‘don’t let me go’. When paintings for an artist who disappeared roughly fifty years ago suddenly surface, Charlie and his friends decide it might be worth looking into what really happened. Besides, who isn't up for adventure and fun in Buenos Aires? But things go horribly sideways when Charlie stumbles across Dr. William freaking Monroe—the only man to claim and then destroy Charlie’s heart. Now they’re on the run, dodging bullets and digging for the truth. Charlie wants nothing to do with Will. It’s his heart that’s screaming for a second chance. Is it too late to get past years of anger and misunderstandings to grab the love that still burns between them? Charlie’s Doctor is the first full-length novel in the Shadow Elite mercenary series and features stubborn men with poor communication skills, second chances, meddling brothers, explosions, and love on the run in Argentina.

Word Count: Click here to reveal50630 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Even the best-planned experiment can have unpredictable consequences. Max Allenby loves his job as a chemist with Armacom, developing new protective materials. He harbours a secret crush for the CEO, the stern and distant Blake Winters, which makes dealing with his harridan of a boss, Dr. Ella Preston, bearable. Blake Winters is a lifestyle Dom. He spotted Max when he first joined Armacom, but has kept his distance from the talented, young scientist. When his Head of Security, who also happens to be Max’s older brother, tells him about Max’s feelings, Blake decides its time to make the pretty young man his. Blake proposes a dating experiment to Max. For three hours a night over five nights, Max will give Blake his complete submission. Max is conflicted but decides to take the plunge and get a taste of a lifestyle he secretly craves. Each date night introduces Max to a new level of submission. He loves every minute but is also conflicted—unable to believe a man like Blake wants him as anything more than a temporary plaything. Blake understands that experiments do not always turn out as expected. He takes steps to convince Max of his feelings and to reassure him that his submissive streak is a strength, not a weakness.

Word Count: Click here to reveal72000 (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… Welcome to the Vampire Guard, where legend and myth meet science and technology. Vampires make the best spies. Throw a smart-mouthed werewolf in with three vampires, mix well, and The Vampire Guard's newest team is bound to become one of their greatest assets. Super spies with a full range of skills. Warrior, hacker, thief, and scientist. They get in, do the job and get out before the bad guys ever know what hit them. Forge, Blair, Declan, and Lucas are thrust into the world of high-tech spies and top-secret espionage conspiracies. Recruited into the world’s most elite and secret organization with one singular mission. Protect those who can’t defend themselves from ruin. Life becomes complicated when an impending Presidential visit to their town, Boggslake, throws them headlong into the world of the vampires and werewolves of the Vampire Guard. Very quickly they uncover and confront a werewolf terrorist organization known as the Qiguan. Together they must thwart an assassination attempt on the open waters of Lake Superior while tracking a previously unknown biological weapon controlled by the Qiguan—a weapon which may very well mean death for one of them.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: When a special assignment brings two men together, they become a target for a man with a grudge. Can they find the danger before it’s too late? Claxton My Commander made me the Rookie Wrangler. Well, one rookie, but that was more than enough. Trey Callaghan was the newest member of the Winston Harbor S.W.A.T. Unit and I was in charge of getting him settled in. That had been the plan until a nightmare from my past reappeared, and he had his focus directed on Trey. I'd protect the man by any means necessary. Trey Making the S.W.A.T. Unit was my dream assignment. I'd fought hard for the chance, and I'd do anything to keep it. At least, that’s what I'd thought until Lieutenant Sean Claxton. Being assigned as the sexy, older man’s partner hadn't been in my plans. When a threat to Claxton puts a target on my back, would I survive? When two men are cut off from traditional help, how far will they go to protect each other?

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Dead men can’t love. Former drug trafficker Richmond “Lucky” Lucklighter “died” in the line of duty while working off a ten-year sentence in service to the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, only to be reborn as Simon “Lucky” Harrison. The newbie he trained, former Marine Bo Schollenberger, is now his partner on (and maybe off) the job. It’s hard to tell when Lucky doesn’t understand relationships or have a clue what any sane human is doing in his bed. Bo’s nice to have around, sure, but there’s none of that picking-out-china-together crap for Lucky. While fighting PTSD, memories of a horrid childhood, and a prescription drug addiction, Bo is paying for his mistakes. Using his pharmacy license for the good guys provides the sort of education he never got in school. Undercover with his hard-headed partner, Bo learns that not everything is as it seems in the world of pharmaceuticals. When a prescription drug shortage jeopardizes the patients at Rosario Children’s Cancer Center, it not only pits Bo and Lucky against predatory opportunists, but also each other. How can they tell who the villains are? The bad guys don’t wear black hats, but they might wear white coats.

Word Count: Click here to reveal64548 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: What if cyborgs suffered body dysphoria? In his mid-forties, former cop turned career bureaucrat Nolan Rogers is diagnosed with terminal cancer. His best friend Elly Takahara convinces him to undergo the process of body conversion, where his brain is transplanted into a robotic body. The operation is successful, but Nolan quickly finds himself adrift in a body that doesn't eat or physically react to emotion. For the first time in years, he's suffering from a new kind of body dysphoria, a sensation he hoped to have left behind when he transitioned to male decades ago. During this crisis, he meets Tallis, a proud nonbinary body convert who sued his parents for the right to give up his flesh and blood body. Tallis is fire to Nolan's water, and whereas Nolan just wants to fit in, Tallis is determined to stand out in a world where being a cyborg marks one for discrimination and worse. Despite hitting it off poorly, an undeniable attraction blossoms between the pair, and they become entwined in a complicated relationship. Nolan can't understand Tallis, but he wants to. Trapped in his own narrow confines of what he believes the world to be, Tallis challenges everything he thought he knew. Can Nolan learn to love who he is now, or will he find himself drawn into the ranks of the Regretters, an organization of cyborgs campaigning to outlaw body conversion altogether?

Word Count: Click here to reveal67000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Wherever August Morrison and Ricardo Torralba go, chaos is sure to follow. The authors certainly know this, since their “standalone book” has now turned into a series with no end in sight, because…UGH. These two. We give up. Anyway. Detective David Chandler had no clue what he was getting into when he and his partner decided they were going to nail August for murder. They didn’t realize it was one of the few murders August didn’t commit, or that their homicide investigation would lead them into the middle of a mob war. Cavalcante underboss Pedro Silva knew asking August and Ricardo for help was a terrible idea. Just mentioning their names is bad for Pedro’s blood pressure. Owing them a favor? Oh Lord. He still asked, though, because he was out of options, but he can’t say he didn’t know he’d regret it. Neither man expected things to blow up this badly. Now they’re both on the run from the mafia, the cops, and everyone in between… except for August and Ricardo. On one hand, that means they have two expert assassins in their corner. On the other, it means they have the biggest troll on the planet heckling them at every turn. And sticking them in a safehouse together. With only one bed. And if August or Ricardo make one more comment about how Dave and Pedro should just hook up already… Cop vs. Capo is 67,500 words long, and is book 4 of the Hitman vs. Hitman series. CW: combat PTSD, alcoholism, on-page violence, discussion of abuse of a sex worker

Word Count: Click here to reveal66300 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Winner: 2014 Rainbow Awards Renegade biker. Drug runner. Recovering addict. Wanted by the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau. But he isn’t a crook, he’s the law. SNB Agent Bo Schollenberger’s solved his cases using his brains and not a gun, and with his partner, not alone. Now he’s handed a tough new case involving designer drugs that turn users violent. One false move could end his life as he immerses himself into a motorcycle gang to locate the source. His fate depends on how well he can impersonate someone else. Someone named Cyrus Cooper. Cyrus is everything Bo Schollenberger isn’t, including the badass enforcer for a smuggling ring. He establishes pecking order with his fists and doesn’t take shit from anybody, not even the undercover agent who comes to help his case. Simon “Lucky” Harrison’s always been the best, whichever side of the law he was on. Former trafficker turned SNB agent, he damned well ought to be undercover in this motorcycle gang, instead of hanging around the office going crazy with new policies, new people, and “inter-departmental cooperation” that sticks him in a classroom. Yet he’s passed over for the SNB’s biggest case in decades in favor of the rookie who shares his bed. A man Lucky thought he knew. When survival depends on a web of tangled lies, lines blur, worlds collide, and a high stakes game turns friend to foe. Lucky knows the difference between Bo the agent and Cyrus the outlaw, but does Bo? (

Word Count: Click here to reveal34613 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Jotham was one of the oldest of the paranormal world, and a dragon shifter. He had been one of the attending Councilmen for the mating Games, since its creations. It is a time, for most, to come and have some fun, play some games, and hopefully find their mate. However, for Jotham, it was the time of his worst nightmare. Someone had taken his daughter over a hundred years ago. Discovering that Councilman Troy, his supposed friend, was behind his daughter’s disappearance was something Jotham had a hard time dealing with. When he was first approached about the sinister actions of his fellow councilman, Jotham had not believed the men's accusations. Then Ricky, Ian, Joop, their mates, and family proved their words were true. Discovering his daughter had died was heartbreaking, but then he saw a picture in a file and knew the little girl looking back at him could only be one person...his granddaughter. Ricky and Ian convinced him that maybe one of the victims might be able to help them find the other captives. That is how he met his destiny.... his Q... his mate. Q had never really known a life outside the labs and captivity. So many people and no ability to communicate was terrifying. Then he saw the most beautiful sight in the world. His koala wanted to pounce and claim the man...but then he found out Jotham was a man of power and that type of person had only brought him fear and pain. Can Q push past his fear and help his mate find his granddaughter and others still being imprisoned? Can Q push his fear even harder aside and allow his dragon mate to claim him? Or will all be lost forever?

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: This is a box set containing the first two novelettes in the F.I.S.T.S. series. Sarge, F.I.S.T.S. #1 Sometimes it’s just about being in the right place at the right time… with the right person. Sarge is the short story of a burgeoning D/s relationship between two Space Marines stationed on an alien planet where an endless war drags on. Sergeant Wilkes is a hard man with a long, celebrated military career. Brawny, tattooed, and utterly submissive, Murphy is just an interesting diversion… until Sarge realizes he has found something truly rare. __ Murphy, F.I.S.T.S. #2 Sometimes when it seems like it’s too late, the right person comes along and opens your eyes… Murphy is the continuing story of a D/s relationship between two Space Marines who found each other in the midst of hopelessness and misfortune. Sarge and his newly minted squad travel across the galaxy on a top-secret mission that could help win the war. However, to Murphy something about the mission stinks, and it’s not just the planet they’ve landed on. __ Bonus content: The Missing Reel - Short deleted scene between Andrew Murphy and Sergeant Wilkes.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Accused of a murder he didn’t commit, vilified celebrity Jackson Young enlists the help of rookie journalist to clear his name and write his biography.  Jackson has a secret though. One he must keep from becoming public. But Fletcher’s dreamy green eyes, Irish drawl and effortless charm makes it hard to suppress those long-buried feelings, even if it could compromise his innocence. Uncovering the murky past behind Jackson’s rise to fame, Fletcher grows closer to a man he’d once declared as talentless and their intense attraction starts to affect not only his professional integrity, but the life he’d made since moving to London. Falling for the subject of his book could be fatal for Fletcher, and Jackson should know better than to trust a journalist. Fade to Blank is the first book in the London Lies trilogy set in 1999 and is a slow burn, enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort romantic suspense.

Word Count: Click here to reveal170,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: In 1846 London, Oliver Twist has one desire: to own a bookshop and live a simple, middle-class life as far as possible from his workhouse-shadowed past. One thing stands in his way, Jack Dawkins--The Artful Dodger--who's just returned to London and wants to reconnect. Jack's visits cause Oliver nothing but trouble with his master, but he finds himself drawn, time and again, to their shared past, Jack's unguarded honesty, and those bright, green eyes. Oliver craves respectability, and doesn't think he will find it with a forbidden love. Can Jack convince Oliver that having one doesn't mean losing the other? Fagin’s Boy: The Further Particulars of a Parish Boy's Progress is the first book in Christina E. Pilz’s Oliver & Jack series, a gay historical romance. If you like Dickensian characters who fall in love in spite of themselves, and beautiful flowering romance occurring in all the wrong places,  then you’ll love Fagin’s Boy, so pick up a copy today!

Word Count: Click here to reveal32850 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: