fantasy – high & other world

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

Summary: Nobody ever tells you how hard it is to become a legend. When Cory Cooper came to Maine with his boyfriend, Kieran Belle, to meet the family, he never imagined the chaos that would engulf their summer break. The seeming safety of the Oisín compound has been shattered. Kieran’s grandfather, the powerful Silver Witch is dead and Kieran has been severely injured fighting off the shifters who invaded his family home. The dark forces arrayed against the young lovers aren’t the only forces in opposition to their quest for Happily Ever After. Camille Belle, reigning matriarch of the shifter hunting House of Beauty, and Kieran’s maternal grandmother, also stands in their way. Can these descendants of rival houses over come the forces that oppose them or is this version of Beauty and the Beast doomed to repeat the sad ending of the past?

Word Count: Click here to reveal73001 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Light cannot always illuminate— sometimes the truth lies in Darkness... Prince Theryn and his loyal knight, Sir Atrum, are both bound by duty: Theryn serves the kingdom of Glinden, and Atrum serves his prince. Although they harbor a secret love, a relationship between a prince and his servant is forbidden. Things change when the king promises Theryn’s hand in an arranged marriage to the volatile Prince Lyar of the Soltaran Empire, who needs Theryn’s Light magic for some sinister religious rite. Theryn and Atrum's struggle to discover Lyar’s scheme brings them together at last, but there is more at stake than their happiness. Atrum discovers Dark magic of his own, but neither his love nor his power may be enough to save Theryn from Lyar's dangerously seductive pull. And if Atrum loses Theryn, the world as they know it may be lost as well.

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

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

Summary: Sasha is a healer forced to take on the role of a warrior when his clan is attacked. Trapped in his caravan, the only weapon he can lay hands on is Ryka, the legendary sword that has been in his family for generations. To Sasha’s horror, the blade takes control of his body and turns him into a ruthless killer. Worse, Ryka sets in motion an irreversible process that will bind them together for life — if Sasha can survive the bonding. Jace is a mercenary soldier, charged with protecting his commander’s brother, Eredwyn, on a journey through the Middle Kingdoms. When Eredwyn’s sometimes-prophetic visions lead them to the dying Sasha, Eredwyn insists that they must save him. As Sasha struggles to come to terms with Ryka and his need to avenge his clan, Jace finds himself torn between his orders to protect Eredwyn and his growing feelings for Sasha. Can Jace walk the fine line between duty and desire, or will Sasha’s plans for vengeance lead all three men to their deaths? (~77,000 words)

Word Count: Click here to reveal52000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Genderqueer, Intersex, Non Binary, Polyamorous (Click here to hide)

Summary: **Book One of the 2016 Rainbow Award winning poly romance series** Carivel's secret could save her people. It will also destroy her life. She was born female, but she has been secretly living as a boy for years in her adoptive village of Draebard, doing a job the elders insist can only be done by a male. The last thing she needs is to fall for not one, but two unattainable men—a fierce warrior and a reluctant wolf-shifter with a horrific past. Now, the Alyrion Empire is poised to invade, and Carivel must choose whether to keep her secret or reveal it—not only to the men she loves, but also to the powerful female ruler whose army could help protect Draebard during the coming war. Perfect for open-minded fans of ménage and reverse harem romance, The Horse Mistress: Book 1 by USA Today bestselling author R. A. Steffan combines detailed world-building, and a heartfelt romance between three noble, damaged people who have no one to turn to but each other.

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

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

Summary: He will live his life for the love of a king... Ardan is overjoyed when he is selected to become the new court sorcerer for the King of Phelin. He expects to be giving advice to the king and court about anything and everything magical, but he doesn't expect to become the close friend and lover to the heir to the throne, Caol. When it happens, he chooses to find peace with it and enjoy it - until an invading army takes control of the country and tears their relationship apart. Ardan is left to fulfill his lover's last request; to take the newborn baby prince away from the conquered capital and raise him to restore Phelin. But raising Prince Caolan and helping him to regain the country will not be simple, not when Caolan has his own ideas about the way things should be.

Word Count: Click here to reveal27000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: War is brewing between the Greenlands and the Summer Kingdom, despite the efforts of Lord Aidan and Prince Varion, who have been meeting in secret in an attempt to maintain peace. When war proves inevitable, Aidan offers Varion asylum, loathe to see the man he's come to care about become his enemy. But Varion refuses, sacrificing safety and his own desires to stay in the Summer Kingdom in order to protect his little brother from their ruthless father. The two men instead declare a blood oath to always protect each other, an oath that will see them through war, transformation, and a deadly curse…

Word Count: Click here to reveal17700 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Following his principles will break two hearts. Forester Veld loses a piece of himself to mute baker Oren when they first meet, but Oren is vowed to Haram. When Haram is killed, Veld denies his heart to respect the mourning period. It’s the right thing to do. During Haram’s funeral, Oren proudly bares the brands that show the nature of their love; Haram owned him, heart and body. The elves pity Oren and think he’s broken. Veld has no intention of dishonouring Haram’s memory, but his death may not have been an accident. Only a forester can learn what the trees have seen. However, Oren’s independence is threatened, and if Veld does not offer what Oren needs, Oren may never be his to claim.

Word Count: Click here to reveal65000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Prince Garrik is the Heir Presumptive of Altan, next in line to be crowned Wytch King. There’s only one problem: in order for Garrik to be crowned, he must possess Wytch power of his own, and thus far, whatever power Garrik might possess has shown no sign of awakening. As things stand, it is Garrik’s younger brother, Jaire — a dreamer completely unsuited to wear the crown — who will take the throne after their father. Concerned about the future of his kingdom, the Wytch King demands that Garrik’s power be forcibly awakened. Hoping to protect his brother from the burden of rule, Garrik allows the attempt — with disastrous results. Now, Garrik must learn to control the fiery dragon that rages within him before he destroys everything he loves. Wytch Master Ilya has been alone for years. Learning to control the icy beast slumbering within him has already cost him his family and his lover, and Ilya will never open himself up to that kind of pain again. Summoned to Altan to avert disaster if he can, Ilya has no intention of allowing anyone to thaw the ice in his heart. When he meets Prince Garrik, sparks fly, and Ilya finds himself fighting feelings he thought he'd buried, long ago. Can Garrik’s fire melt Ilya’s icy heart? Or will Ilya be forced to use his ice to quench the flames that burn within Garrik once and for all? (~65,000 words)

Word Count: Click here to reveal24000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: A prince without power In a land where magic is commonplace, Prince Llyskel has none. He can’t command spells, he has never been taught to fight, and as the fifth son of the King, he will never rule. Everyone believes he’s a weakling, most of all himself. Powerlessness is Llyskel’s problem—and his pleasure. In his secret fantasies, the prince dreams of nothing more than finding himself helpless at another man’s hands… particularly the hands of Captain Ariv of the Guards. Then Ariv makes Llyskel’s dream a reality, and as the powerless prince surrenders to the soldier’s desire, he finds his own true strength at last. But a web of royal politics is closing around Llyskel, threatening to tear him from his lover, and it will take all his newfound courage to escape… 24,000 words | 76 pages (pdf) contains five shaded black-and-white illustrations by Yana Goya

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

Summary: Once upon a time, there was Beauty and there was the Beast. The spinners of tales would have you believe these two fell in love and lived happily ever after. The spinners lied! The Beast was a shifter and Beauty became a huntress and founded a long line of huntresses aided by the power of silver magic. Kieran Belle is a descendant of the House of Beauty and a tracker who longs to live a life free of killing shifters. Aided by his father he escapes to college in Little Rock, Arkansas where he meets the boy of his dreams, Corwin Cooper. Corwin Cooper is a descendant of a clan of shifters, who has never shifted himself. Having finally decided to go to college, Corwin arrives and meets the mate his inner wolf cries out to claim for his own in Kieran Belle. Ancient prophecy says Kieran is destined to become the legendary Silver Hunter. Dark forces seek to derail prophecy and end the House of Beauty. Can a child of the shifter-hunting House of Beauty and a descendant of shifters find love and happiness or will dark forces and opposing heritage tear them apart?

Word Count: Click here to reveal15500 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Once Martel was a thieftaker, an honourable young man working an honourable profession with his father, keeping the city safe. Then came revolution and chaos. Now he’s alone and living as a bounty hunter, as low as he can fall. Rumour says the last of the overthrown royal family is hiding in the forest that borders Amaranth. Prince Joslyn would be a better prize than runaway slaves and murderers; the price on that boy’s head would make Martel for life, and give him a chance to rebuild his reputation. When he rides into the charcoal-burner’s clearing, he doesn’t find a depraved young aristocrat hiding out with his loyal servant. Rather, he finds a displaced old man doing the best he can with only a slave to help. A willing, beautiful, poorly trained slave. From their first encounter, Martel can’t keep his hands off the boy - and sees no reason to, when the master doesn’t care and the inexperienced boy is sullen and frightened and eager all at once. This is the last thing he was looking for - but can one hot night change the course of a life, of two lives...?

Word Count: Click here to reveal50000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Khy is a prisoner and a slave. His life consists of days of drudgery and nights of agony. He has no memory of anything else, yet he knows there must be more beyond the fog that shrouds his mind. When his Master is called away on urgent business and Khy is left alone, a moment of unexpected clarity has him running for freedom. Jaedin is done running, both from war in the north and from his lover’s tragic death. He’s settled in the tiny village of Rosefire, and has finally achieved an uneasy truce with his grief. Jaedin’s hard-won peace is shattered when he places himself between Khy and the band of brigands hunting him. During the scuffle, Khy panics and works the leythe to set loose a spell. When the dust settles, Khy has fled and Jaedin finds himself haunted by something far darker than his own past. In order to regain his peace—and his sanity—Jaedin sets off in search of the young man who has cursed him. What he finds threatens not only his own personal equilibrium, but the balance of the leythe itself. To protect the leythe, Khy must face his tormentor and fight to free himself from the man who considers him both pawn and prize. To protect the man he loves, he must do it alone. (~50,000 words) Note: Human Choices is a stand-alone story that takes place in the same world as Human Frailties, Human Strengths.

Word Count: Click here to reveal103000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: First I was a sorcerer. Then I was a hermit. For so long—for years that seemed to go on forever—I couldn't bear to be touched. I put up not just walls but whole stone bunkers to keep everyone out, emotionally, and physically as well. I was protected from people, from ghosts, from specters real and imagined. Sure, I was alone. But I felt safe. Only, after a while, I wasn't sure any longer whether a totally "safe" empty life was really worth living. Then Tobin came along. Out of the blue, out of my past, with a summons from the king that he wouldn't let me ignore. I tried to cling to my isolation, but he wouldn't give up on me. Tobin never believed in walls. This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story. 103,000 words

Word Count: Click here to reveal90000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: What do a god in exile and a goth geek from Nowhere, Minnesota have in common? Not a damn thing. Ashnavayarian is a god in exile, condemned by the Dragon Mother to live as a lowly human. The only way to appease the goddess and earn back his place at her side is to learn compassion — or bypass her entirely by raising the power to break his exile. Tor MacAran is stuck in a dead-end job in a tiny town that’s barely on the map. He’s been alone and hurting all his life, and he’s about ready to end his pain by whatever means he can. When a Halloween encounter dumps Tor at Ash’s feet, the two men find themselves tied together by the Dragon Mother in a way that neither can escape. Can Tor teach Ash what it really means to be human? Or will Ash’s bid for freedom destroy Tor and plunge the Westlands into a war no one can win?

Word Count: Click here to reveal61500 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Jay should be a very happy slave boy. His new master is young, hot, affectionate, and no stricter than he needs to be. Also rich now, thanks to one night’s hectic gambling. But the man who lost all that money - and his slave boy too - wants his revenge. He wants everything back, including Jay, and he’ll do whatever it takes to achieve his goal. It’s dangerous to challenge so much wealth and influence, let alone to defeat them - and that’s only the start of the trouble for Jay and his master Jensen. Jay has a secret, that he’s kept hidden from all the men who’ve owned him. Now that’s going to lead him and his master too down strange roads in stranger company, and into deadly danger, eventually into Hell itself...

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

Summary: Mermen of Ea: Book One Taren Laxley has never known anything but life as a slave. When a lusty pirate kidnaps him and holds him prisoner on his ship, Taren embraces the chance to realize his dream of a seagoing life. Not only does the pirate captain offer him freedom in exchange for three years of labor and sexual servitude, but the pleasures Taren finds when he joins the captain and first mate in bed far surpass his greatest fantasies. Then, during a storm, Taren dives overboard to save another sailor and is lost at sea. He’s rescued by Ian Dunaidh, the enigmatic and seemingly ageless captain of a rival ship, the Phantom, and Taren feels an overwhelming attraction to Ian that Ian appears to share. Soon Taren learns a secret that will change his life forever: Ian and his people are Ea, shape-shifting merfolk… and Taren is one of them too. Bound to each other by a fierce passion neither can explain or deny, Taren and Ian are soon embroiled in a war and forced to fight for a future—not only for themselves but for all their kind. WARNING: 18+ adults only, contains scenes of explicit MMM menage (although the pairing is strictly MM), and dubious consent.

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Summary: Brute leads a lonely life in a world where magic is commonplace. He is seven and a half feet of ugly, and of disreputable descent. No one, including Brute, expects him to be more than a laborer. But heroes come in all shapes and sizes, and when he is maimed while rescuing a prince, Brute’s life changes abruptly. He is summoned to serve at the palace in Tellomer as a guard for a single prisoner. It sounds easy but turns out to be the challenge of his life. Rumors say the prisoner, Gray Leynham, is a witch and a traitor. What is certain is that he has spent years in misery: blind, chained, and rendered nearly mute by an extreme stutter. And he dreams of people’s deaths—dreams that come true. As Brute becomes accustomed to palace life and gets to know Gray, he discovers his own worth, first as a friend and a man and then as a lover. But Brute also learns heroes sometimes face difficult choices and that doing what is right can bring danger of its own.

Word Count: Click here to reveal32000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: On a drunken bet, Marc broke into Baron Thiviers’ mansion to steal something precious. Discovered and almost caught, he’s being hunted by the baron and his hounds when Finn, the runaway slave boy, saves his life. Marc claims possession of Finn, to redeem that foolish bet--what’s more precious than a beautiful boy? But his so-called friends reject him, and the baron comes after him relentlessly, so he takes the boy and flees again. Yet it’s Finn the baron can track, by means of renegade magic, and in the end, Finn has no choice. He runs from the new young master he’s come to love and confronts the chasing baron, sacrificing himself to save Marc’s life. Except that Marc too is in love, and so comes after his errant boy, throwing his own life into danger yet again.

Word Count: Click here to reveal65000 (Click here to hide)

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

Summary: Coryn is the rarest of mages, a young man with the gift of healing. A chance encounter with a sick slave on the road leads to love unimagined, a match for his gentle heart, and the two to a town riven with plague. It's too much for one inexperienced healer--but still, Coryn will break himself with trying and his new boy's heart in the process. What will it take to heal a healer's heart?