Books Tagged With where - state - Maine

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

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

Summary: Mal’s first priority is giving his six-year-old son the best Christmas ever, a goal made trickier by a recent move to New England after losing his job. As a single dad, he’s not looking for romance—especially not with a blond California boy ten years his junior. After being ridiculed at the family business, Luca sets out to prove himself by opening an eco-friendly gift-wrapping store in a small town with a hard-on for Christmas that’s about as far from LA as he can get. Out of his comfort zone in snowy Maine, love is the last thing on his mind. But the magic of the season has other ideas. As Mal and Luca collide on wintery streets, will they let their first Christmas in Lighthouse Bay lead to happily ever after?

Word Count: Click here to reveal98500 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: The tall pines, the thick mist, the birdsong above his head...Barrett loves everything about living outside the remote mountain town of Lake Honor, but especially the peace and quiet. His days as a forest ranger are filled with unpredictable adventure, so home is the one place he knows he can count on. But even home has been a surprise of late, as his next door neighbor and good friend has suddenly passed away, and the house has been sold to someone new. He’s not sure this change will be good. When the new neighbor, Ambrose, arrives, Barrett realizes that the man is a loner, like himself, and clearly not looking for a friend. Which is a pity, because Barrett finds him fascinating and incredibly good looking. Ambrose didn’t move to the outskirts of nowhere to make a friend. But Barrett, his new neighbor, is kind and generous, and has soft brown eyes he can’t stop thinking about. As he slowly warms up to Barrett, fate finds a way to push them together when danger and sabotage strike. Barrett saves Ambrose’s life, and their bond is cemented. Ambrose isn’t sure about letting in someone new, but Barrett hasn’t proven to be anything but a good person. And a handsome one at that. As their lives entangle, and their relationship grows, neither man can ignore the attraction between them. But their pasts are complicated; an ex-boyfriend reappears, an estranged parent tries to get in contact, and Barrett’s nephew falls ill. On top of that, the sabotage of forest ranger equipment grows more dangerous and Barrett is pulled into the investigation. Both men want to take their relationship slow, even with all the drama swirling around them. Ask Me For Fire is a love story drenched in atmosphere, suspense, and heartfelt connections. Tropes: forced proximity, slow burn, grouchy loners Content warnings: explicit sex; some violence and danger (mostly minimal and/or off-screen); mental health issues including anxiety and depression; abusive and manipulative family; neglectful family and past relationships

Word Count: Click here to reveal18,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Will Simpson figures he’s the epitome of boring. He works in a cubicle, goes to the beach for vacation every year, and even the ex who only wanted sex once a week left him. So when he gets an invitation to spend a weekend at a B&B in Maine with a bunch of his old frat buddies, Will figures why not do something totally out of his comfort zone. He knows he might see Mitch again, but with enough guys around, it wouldn’t have to be awkward. Mitch Archer thinks a weekend with his old buddies might be fun, too, but when he gets to Maine, he surprised to find Will is the only one who made it. He’s also surprised to discover that the house itself is more than just a fun place to vacation in small-town New England. He’s always wondered what he and Will could have had together, so he grabs at the chance to test things out between them. He’s ready to explore, and he’s bound and determined to show Will how adventurous he can be. The matchmaker got a little nudge from an old friend on this one, and with the aid of forced proximity and a little inside information, he has put together their ultimate fantasy.

Word Count: Click here to reveal40926 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Nick Fabian never made it as a CSI. His idealistic vision of the police as an institution dedicated to serving justice died in the harsh light of day, and he quit to become a freelance private investigator, taking on cases nobody else wanted to touch. Enter Emily Bright, a woman with a score to settle. Her best friend Sabrina was murdered, but local law enforcement is dead-set on ruling it a suicide. Determined to get justice, she turns to Nick. Nick feels the pain of one of his own and takes on the mantle of finding Sabrina's killer.But Point Clear has skeletons in its closet. A married local school teacher, Connor Long, had an affair with the victim and isn't above threatening Nick to keep his secret safe. Local man Roy Constas took Sabrina home that night, but he swears nothing happened between them. Emily herself raises suspicions when she reveals she was in love with Sabrina, a sentiment that was not returned. If Nick wants to get to the truth, he'll have to cut through the small-town prejudice and lies surrounding Sabrina's death, but that's not easy when the entire system is determined to bury the case and chase Nick out of town...

Word Count: Click here to reveal40671 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Nick Fabian has settled into life in the small Maine town of Point Clear with his boyfriend Roy Constas, but work in the P.I. business is slow. Struggling for money and a sense of purpose, he considers working at the local laundry with Emily, but the news that his old crush Lieutenant Scott Mordis has been murdered in Philadelphia ignites a deep yearning he'd been trying to snuff out. With their last parting a bitter one, Nick is conflicted about returning to Philly, but is driven by the force of his emotions to obtain justice for Scott. Roy insists on tagging along for the ride, refusing to be left behind. He's jealous of Nick's affection for his former mentor and boss, and the two men face their first major hurdle as a couple. Nick's journey will plunge him back into a cold case—that of Aiden Winters, the murder that drove a wedge between him and Scott in the first place—and he'll unearth connections between the two cases better left buried in the past…

Word Count: Click here to reveal18,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: James Lawrey is a CEO with plenty of cred in corporate circles and plenty of cash to go with it. Privately, though, he’s learned the hard way that it might be impossible to find the one thing he can’t buy--a young man to look after who wants and needs a real Daddy, not just a sugar daddy.  Textile artist Rye Henry’s last relationship went up in flames when his ex told him it was time to grow up. Rye’s got a lucrative business of his own, so he needs a lover who isn’t going to try to change him, a Daddy who wants his true devotion. Both men drop a pretty penny to experience a few days at the AirB&D, a swanky vacation home in Maine, for a fantasy that’s exactly what they’re looking for even if it only lasts one weekend. But can they get more than their money’s worth? Of course. Just leave it to the matchmaker.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Giles Martin is tired of feeling like he’s not real. He might be a successful author, but he hasn’t had the best track record with love. After all, his ex, who is also his agent, is the one who arranges his fantasy weekend with a Daddy at the AirB&D. How pathetic is that? And worse, he needs a man equipped to handle his issues and his Daddy turns out to be younger. Much younger. Lake Lewis knows he’s younger than his fantasy boy expected him to be, but he knows what he wants, and he thinks his weekend with Giles is going to be epic. He’s not exactly sure how to unpack all of Giles’s baggage, but he’s confident he can help his boy feel real. In fact, Lake comes to feel like Giles might be the one person in his life who actually needs him. How will Lake convince Giles that age is just a number, and that the matchmaker never makes a mistake?

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Sometimes you need a little push to start over. Texan Jon Oliver’s need to serve comes completely naturally, it’s simply a part of who he is. But he’s been alone a long time caring for his dying mother, and now that she’s gone, he’s at loose ends. Needing a strong connection, if only for a week, he spends a chunk of his inheritance for a chance at the AirB&D. Liam Oberlin lives and works in New York City and hasn’t been anyone’s master in a very long time. He lost his lover a few years ago and doesn’t believe there’s anyone else out there who could love and serve him as completely. His week at AirB&D is a gift from an insistent friend, and although Liam is skeptical, he tries to be what Jon needs him to be. The matchmaker’s instincts are rarely off-base. But are these two men really ready for new beginnings?   

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

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

Summary: Rein Richards isn’t holding out much hope that the matchmaker can come up with a match for him, and he’s sure it’s his own fault. He has a short attention span, a temper, and a lot of baggage. He knows who he is, he desperately needs a strong man to obey, to help calm his thoughts and get his mind in order, but he just can’t seem to do anything right. Grant Rugger has been on his own a long while because he hasn’t found a lover—a boy—that truly needs his particular brand of 24/7 attention and love. He comes to the AirB&D wanting, not the perfectly behaved man, but the perfect boy for him. Rein proves to be an enormous challenge, but is beautiful and fascinating, and one thing he knows for sure—the boy’s lack of a long-term arrangement is far from his own fault. Rein just hasn’t found anyone that has both the firm hand that he needs and enough patience to wait him out. It doesn’t take Grant long to decide he wants to be the man that Rein needs him to be. But is three days enough to build that kind of trust? Of course, the matchmaker thinks it is. And he’s always right.

Word Count: Click here to reveal78000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Beauty and the Bear: Can these opposites fake their way into something real? Sheldon Soleskin should be having a horrible day. Even though he’s been unexpectedly transferred to a new school right before the holidays, has only one day to set up his new classroom, and just discovered his twin sister's been hiding an invitation to his ex-boyfriend’s Christmas Eve wedding, he’s still ready to take on the world with a smile on his face and a skip in his step. Theo Berenson just wants to be left alone to his custodial duties. But when the chipper new first-grade teacher needs help moving furniture the Sunday after Thanksgiving, he's forced to do something he detests. Help. To make matters worse, Theo's overbearing parents are coming for Hanukah in a few weeks, and he's told them he has a boyfriend. Except he doesn't. Because who would want to date an oaf like Theo? Working together, these opposites discover they might be able to help each other out. Agreeing to be each other’s dates, they become friends as they practice for their upcoming events. But when all the rehearsing starts feeling a little too real, and both men's pasts come roaring back to haunt them, will they be able to pull off the ultimate holiday masquerade?

Word Count: Click here to reveal77000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: On paper, they’re a disaster. In the sheets, they’re a perfect match. Kent Lester is proud of the joyful, thriving learning community he’s created as principal of Lear Elementary School. But seven years after his divorce, he’s ready to focus on his personal life and spread his bisexual wings. Things get off to a rocky start when Kent’s first date is an uptight control freak — although that doesn’t stop them tangling some sheets. Vincent Manda never seems able to move past the friend zone, and besides, he’s not sure anyone can handle his OCD. But that night with the bearded, older Kent revealed a side of Vincent he’d never experienced before. And he’s equal parts scared of and desperate for a repeat. When Lear’s test scores take a nosedive, Kent finds himself under the microscope. Forced to implement new software to monitor and collect school data, he’s horrified to discover that Vincent is working on the project. With his last install ending less than ideally, Vincent’s job depends on this one succeeding — and butting heads with the principal won’t help. Vincent and Kent need to view each other in a new light, but that could change their futures forever.

Word Count: Click here to reveal42642 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Haunted by his last case and still struggling financially, private investigator Nick Fabian is floundering when a birthday surprise from his best friend Connor Long and boyfriend Roy Constas—a home of their own—offers a ray of hope for a future life beyond living in a cramped trailer and staring into the depths of human depravity. Nick's optimism soon fades when he finds human remains crammed into a suitcase dumped in the attic. The bones belong to a local child who was reported missing three years ago. The news only gets worse when Roy reveals he was the one who took the suitcase up into the attic at Connor's request, but he insists he had no idea of its grisly contents. With Connor Long the prime suspect in a murder yet again, battle lines are drawn in Point Clear. Connor's pregnant wife Lillian and girlfriend Sabrina stand by him, but Roy and Emily aren't so certain of his innocence. Nick finds himself trapped in the middle, drawn to Connor by an attraction he's never fully explored, but forced to accept the fact that Connor's hiding something. Connor's brother, Sheriff Thomas Long, hires Nick to investigate and find out the truth, no matter how ugly it may be—but will he regret asking the question once he knows the horrifying answer?

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Blackmail turned Lane Becker into a thief at the age of fourteen. After ten miserable years, he’s finally free. To make reparation for his crimes, Lane plans to steal back a priceless Metropolis poster and return it to its rightful owner. But to find it, he has to break into the home of Hayrick Letsen, the man who turned his life into a living nightmare. The last thing Lane expects to encounter is Letsen’s nosy but crazy-hot security guard. Quincy Holt’s life has been ruined. He’s infamous in Oklahoma as a cop on the take, but what no one knows is that he was unofficially undercover, trying to get the goods on Letsen — the most wanted fence in the business. When that failed, he was left with no other option but to take a job as Letsen’s security guard. Lane and Quincy are on the run from their mutual enemy while trying to right past wrongs. Neither expected a thief and a cop to have the kind of wild, off-the-charts chemistry that could very well end up breaking their hearts.

Word Count: Information not available

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

Summary: Reformed thief Helix Rossington needs to find his little brother. Finally free of the blackmailing monster who forced him into a life of crime, Helix is ready for a fresh start. A better life. Unfortunately, making amends for past wrongs and locating his brother means stealing…again. To make matters worse, he must work with ex-cop Gareth Jones. Not that the man is hard on the eyes, but he was in law enforcement and Helix doesn’t trust them. Gareth has lost everything. But helping this band of reformed thieves promises to give him a new purpose in life. If only he didn’t have to work with Helix. The man is hot as hell but a real pain in the ass. Still, his drive to find his lost brother has left Gareth wondering if he’d misjudged the man. When this simple job goes wrong, Helix and Gareth are left clinging to each other, struggling to deal with new feelings neither thought possible. But are both men too damaged to take a chance on each other? Rising Storm is the second book in the Thick As Thieves series and contains thieves seeking redemption, enemies to lovers, stealing antics, hot smexy times, and a deep love neither man expected.

Word Count: Click here to reveal18,000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Redding Hanson, a rancher and a former rodeo cowboy, has received a mysterious invitation (with a big price tag attached) to visit the AirB&D for a few days. He’s expecting a little fun, maybe a couple of hot nights and some sweet memories to take back home. What Red is not expecting is his ex-lover, Kevin Morgan, the man that dumped him a few years ago just for being honest. And Red is not happy. Kevin, a traveling freelance photographer, paid a pretty penny for a steamy long weekend with a man that is ready to experiment a little. He’s looking forward to someone fun and curious, and to not having to explain or justify his desires. So he’s beyond furious to find himself paired with Red, the very man that shamed him long ago for the things he wanted. This time the matchmaker has knowingly opened a can of gasoline and handed his guests a book of matches. Will being together again start a lasting fire between Red and Kevin, or will they burn the gorgeous vacation home to the ground?

Word Count: Click here to reveal64000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Dev has pined for his cousin's best friend for years, but no matter how hard he wishes, Clark sees him as nothing but a friend. And it's as a friend that Clark comes to him for help. Clark’s father is on the brink of losing his house and the fastest way to make a quick buck is to win the $10,000 prize in the inaugural Sweet to the Core apple baking contest. Only problem? He's never baked anything that hasn’t come out of a box. But Dev has. As a baker, he’s Clark’s best chance. For the first time, Dev has something Clark wants. Only problem? Dev needs the prize for himself. The only thing he wants—besides Clark—is to buy the local lighthouse where he last spent time with his parents before they died. Working together means opening a lot more than a barrel of apples, though. They may have found the recipe to love. But will Dev have to give up the only connection he has left to his parents in order to have it? Or will Clark let his father down? They can't both have everything. Or can they?

Word Count: Click here to reveal92000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Love: Not as easy as ABC. They were supposed to keep things casual. Who’d expect they’d be schooled in love? Those who can, teach. Marvin Block is one of the best kindergarten teachers out there. And despite his anxiety, Marvin’s life is sweet. He knows what he wants. And what he wants is the Teacher of the Year Award. Not just for himself – his school needs him to win. Returning from break, the New Year finds Marvin all set to welcome a new pupil to his class. But when Illona walks in with her cute-as-hell single dad beside her, Marvin’s focus starts to slide. Sure, his students always come first, but he deserves to have a life outside the classroom, too, right? As their friendship starts to deepen, Marvin realizes Olan has the potential to teach him things about love he never thought possible. But with the Teacher of the Year award and his school’s future on the line, now’s not the time for anything complicated. Education has always been Marvin’s world. And he needs to keep a cool head if he wants to win the award and save his school. But will it be worth it if he loses Olan in the process? With Olan’s past and Marvin’s present colliding, their experiment in love hangs in the balance. Marvin knows what he wants out of life. But now he’s forced to consider what he wants out of love. Will Marvin chalk the relationship up to experience? Or can they revise their story into a textbook romance?