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Word Count: 14400
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Why is “fun” always so freaking painful? Software engineer Brent Levine has always struggled with the life part of work-life balance, but to hold on to his new job, he’ll have to embrace his employer’s dreaded “staff enrichment” events. This year’s annual ugly holiday sweater party will strain his ambition to remain inconspicuous: everyone has to wear their sweaters upside down and converted into pants—aka “swants.” At six foot eight, Brent has a hard enough time finding clothes that fit him the right way up. And while he’s an ace at coding, when it comes to handcrafts, he’s definitely at the far left end of the bell curve. Luckily he encounters seriously cute theater costumer Jonathan at the Goodwill Outlet. Jonathan offers Brent both an acceptably ugly sweater and his expertise in swants conversion. Attraction sparks on Brent’s side, but how can Jonathan be interested in a nerdy geek like him? A Swants Soiree is a short and sweet opposites-attract rom-com featuring crafting catastrophes, suggestive sweaters, and an awkward introvert who meets his extroverted match.
Word Count: 32000
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Having survived one nightmare of a relationship, Justin Tesh thought he'd left the worst behind when he put his ex Peter behind bars. But when his new lover, Russell Pine, explodes in a fit of alcohol-fueled rage, Justin finds himself frozen with a fear he thought he’d long since worked through. While older, more experienced Russ is anxious to put the incident behind them, avoiding personal issues never works, and for Justin, his fear is an open doorway to demons both he and Russ need to confront. Despite their histories of loss and pain, Russ has faith in the promise of their relationship. But if he can't heal the wound he's inflicted on his lover’s heart, he risks losing Justin forever to Peter’s legacy of brutality. This book was originally published by Dreamspinner Press with a different cover in March of 2015 and was included in The Chess Master Chronicles which compiled all three of the Sam's Cafe Romances into a single print volume.
Word Count: 16000
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: A different kind of home invasion... When Adam Tyler's sister announced she was pregnant, Adam decided to move from Portland, Oregon, to Phoenix, Arizona, to fully embrace the uncle experience. However, he didn't count on the move being delayed until three days before Christmas--and three days before his sister's due date. And he definitely didn't count on finding a scorpion in his bedroom. Cue the panicked calls to exterminators. A different kind of knight to the rescue... Garrett Strong doesn't consider himself at all remarkable--his ex certainly didn't think so--and Garrett's pest-control business is circling the drain. Although Adam is his first new client in months, that isn't the only reason Garrett goes above and beyond for him. He feels a real connection to the younger man and intends to do everything in his power to make sure Adam feels safe and welcome in Phoenix--venomous intruders notwithstanding. An Everyday Hero is a short and sweet opposites-attract, age-gap rom-com featuring a fish-out-of-water geek (who still manages to get a bit soggy), a stand-up blue-collar guy (who can't see his own worth), unexpected additions to the holiday festivities (some less welcome than others), and more than one serious discussion about the true meaning of the word hero.
Word Count: 55000
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Can a chance meeting rekindle their incendiary attraction? While cutting through the Interstices—the post-creation gap between realms—Smith, half-demon tech specialist for Enchanted Occasions Event Planning, spies the person he yearns for daily but dreads ever seeing again: the ifrit, Hashim of the Windrider clan. On their one literally smoldering night together, Smith, stupidly besotted, revealed his true name—a demon’s greatest vulnerability. When Hashim didn’t return the favor, then split the next morning with no word? Message received, loud and clear: Thanks but no thanks. Although Hashim had burned to return Smith’s trust, it was impossible. The wizard who conjured him holds his true name in secret, and unless Hashim discovers it, he’ll never be free. When their attraction sparks once more, the two unite to search for Hashim’s hidden name—which would be a hell of a lot easier if they didn’t have to contend with a convention full of food-crazed vampires on the one day out of the century they can consume something other than blood. But if they fail, Hashim will be doomed to eternal slavery, and their reignited love will collapse in the ashes. Luckily Smith is the guy who gets the job done—and Hashim is never afraid to heat things up. Devouring Flame is a 54,000-word enemies-to-lovers, second-chance paranormal rom-com featuring a down-at-heels carnival with sinister undertones, a minotaur with an affinity for flowers, a prima donna goblin berserker chef with serious knife skills, and a guaranteed HEA.
Word Count: 71000
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Gerald Tanner lost the piece of his life he loved most, his husband Adam. When faced with the prospect of another Christmas with a family who thinks he's better off now that Adam is gone, Gerry decides instead to revisit the memory of when they met, and boards a Christmas cruise on the Sunrise. He's not expecting to meet Leo Ystrabov. He certainly never imagined the courageous young man would challenge him into feelings of desire and the possibility of a love that isn't his precious Adam. Leo Ystrabov doesn't quite know how to handle the shattered heart Gerry presents so hesitantly. But the offer is precious, and Leo can't resist. However, with two families none too eager to accept them and a lot of baggage on both sides, their relationship faces an uphill battle. Leo will have to find his courage to be the lion Gerry sees in him.
Word Count: 15298
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Blacksmith Butch has secretly loved his best friend, science nerd Jimmy, since grade school. Now their shops in Old Town Seven Winds, California, are only doors from each other. They’re about to turn thirty, and Butch refuses to wait another day to make a decision: propose to Jimmy and start the family he’s always wanted or forget his dream to avoid risking their friendship. Why can’t the choice be as easy as creating decorative ironwork in his forge?
Word Count: 7091
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Matthew Blick is almost thirty years old, and he hates the thought of another holiday alone. He has become a bit of a wet blanket when Christmas rolls around every year. So much so that even his five-year-old niece, Hannah, knows something needs to change. She asks the department store Santa to bring her uncle a man to love, and when Santa sees her uncle, he formulates a plan to set that possibility in motion. Santa shows up at Matthew’s house and at first Matthew can’t place him, but then the memories of his first kiss flood his mind and he is shocked to find that Santa is the man he has carried a torch for since high school. Will this twist of fate help Matthew change his view on the holidays? Only a kiss can tell. A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2016 Advent Calendar "Bah Humbug."
Word Count: 32250
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: 2018-2019 Rainbow Awards Runner-up, Best Gay Contemporary Romance & Romantic Comedy When a series of personal crises prompt risk-averse research librarian Aaron Templeton to apply for a job on the other side of the country, nobody is more surprised than he is. He nearly runs home before the final interview except for one little problem: he has no home anymore. He put his condo on the market before he left California and it's already sold. Only an encounter with free-spirited Connecticut native Cody Brown at the Mystic Seaport Museum staves off Aaron's incipient panic attack. Cody loves nothing better than introducing newcomers to the great features of his beloved home state, and when the newbie in question is a rumpled professorial type with the saddest blue eyes on the planet? Score! The attraction between the two men deepens as they explore Cody's favorite spots, but when difficulties arise and Aaron's insecurities threaten to overwhelm him, will Cody's love be enough to keep him in Mystic? Mystic Man is a 32,000-word novella featuring a pertinent internal playlist, suggestive shellfish consumption, and a six-year-old who thinks history should have more girls. HEA guaranteed.
Word Count: 54000
Character Identities: Gay, Pansexual
Summary: With his heart’s desire at stake, can he resist giving Fate a little nudge? Half-norn event planner Anders Skuldsson is under strict orders from Asgard not to meddle with Fate. But with Enchanted Occasions’ latest booking—the competition for the hand of Faerie’s one true prince—crashing around his ears, it’s really, really, really difficult to toe that particular line. So… if Andy just happens to pose as a contender for the prince? It’s an emergency, damn it. Besides, it’s only temporary, so Odin can hardly blame him. Right? If Conall of Odstone hadn’t sworn a blood oath to protect his half-brother, Prince Reyner, he’d murder the idiot himself. Rey was supposed to be here, choosing a mate before being crowned and wed. Instead, he’s disappeared, leaving Con to impersonate him. Again. But when Con meets Andy, his anger turns to desire… and despair. Even if Andy forgives him for pretending to be someone he’s not, how could a man as appealing and accomplished as Andy—a man who’s eligible for a prince’s hand, for pity’s sake—settle for the court outcast? As for Andy, his burgeoning feelings for the prince are both unfortunate and hopeless because hello? Half-norn? Faerie prince? Not exactly a match made in Valhalla. When the Faerie Queen herself hands down an ultimatum, the double deception isn’t their only obstacle. Unless Andy makes the right decision, both their fates could be sealed by… well… Fate. Nudging Fate is a 54,000-word paranormal rom-com featuring mistaken identity, royalty in disguise, interfering coworkers, an iron knight with a soft heart, a temperamental goblin chef, and a guaranteed HEA.
Word Count: 33003
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Every man has secrets, but some are bigger than others…. Felix Peake escaped a shady past to carve out a successful career as an expert in Mesopotamian art and gain the respect of the Chicago art community. But when an assistant curator—a man Felix could easily see himself falling for—asks him to reauthenticate a cuneiform tablet to avoid a looming scandal, Felix’s carefully constructed life could crumble. The tablet is a fake, and Felix is intimately familiar with the artist. Master forger Carter Janson—Felix’s ex and first love—disappeared from his life six years before without a word of explanation. Now, to hold his world together, Felix must find the original tablet, steal it back, and replace the forgery—all before the museum exhibit debuts. It’ll mean slipping back into a role Felix wanted to leave behind and risking his promising future. But even then, he can’t do it alone. He’ll have to confront that rat, Carter Janson.
Word Count: 25000
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Russell Pine goes to the café every morning to enjoy his time chatting with Sam Tesh, the café owner, a friend made over the past twenty years. So when Sam asks a favor, Russ reluctantly agrees to play in a chess tournament. But the contest isn’t the real challenge: Russ finds himself the focus of a secret courtship in words and pictures left for him to discover each morning, leading him to the question: In a café full of young and beautiful minds, who is looking at the graying chessmaster? The first edition of this novella was published in June 2013 as part of Make a Play, the Daily Dose anthology at Dreamspinner Press. This expanded second edition was first published by Dreamspinner in November 2016 under a different cover, and was included in The Chess Master Chronicles, which compiled all three of the Sam's Cafe Romances into a single print volume.
Word Count: 12981
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: When software engineer Keith Trainor decides to start his own company, he knows exactly who he wants as his partner: Parker Mulvaney, his best friend from high school. But in the ten years since graduation, their contact has dwindled to nothing, and it’s all Keith’s fault. If he hadn’t tried to kiss Parker under the mistletoe at the winter formal their senior year, Parker wouldn’t have bolted. At their ten-year reunion, Keith intends to do everything in his geeky power to make amends. Parker should have known that scheduling the reunion the day before Christmas Eve was a recipe for a headache of monster proportions. But when Keith sends a text that he’ll be attending, the evening doesn’t look so bleak. Can an unnecessary makeover, a nostalgic breakfast, an abortive shopping trip, and dance invitations with only a 50 percent success rate culminate in a long-overdue first kiss? The Probability of Mistletoe is a short and sweet opposites-attract, friends-to-lovers, second-chance rom-com featuring an awkward geek on a mission, a determined extrovert with a plan, interfering female relatives of various sizes, and a statistically improbable amount of mistletoe.
Word Count: 40000
Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Struck by amnesia after a car crash, Brian Stouten has been living a life laid out by his family, a heterosexual life that just doesn’t fit. When he learns it was all a lie, he returns to the small college town that’s his only clue to his past. But the town is still unfamiliar, and the man he’d hoped would make all his memories return is on a honeymoon with another man. To add insult to injury, everyone thinks Brian died in the crash. It’s only when an out-of-place cowboy asks to bum a smoke that Brian realizes this trip was meant to be. Sylvester Thomas has always fought a secret desire, and done it successfully. But when geeky Brian offers him a smoke and a light, a simple brush of hands has Sylvester’s hidden passions burning deep. Did he make a mistake letting Brian walk away? This book was originally released by Dreamspinner Press in November 2016 with a different cover, and as part of the print anthology The Chess Master Chronicles, which bundled all three of the Sam's Cafe Romances.
