Books Published By Maxfield Publishing
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Summary: From the Footsteps in the Dark Anthology When his neighbor dies with chef Lonnie's knife in his chest, all signs point to him as the killer. With the dead man's Labrador retriever, Lonnie's dismal ex one-off, Dillon the lawyer, and enigmatic former LAPD officer Rick Garcia by his side, Lonnie faces loneliness, danger, and a chance at romance. Lonnie must prove he's innocent or find the real killer before it's too late in "Pepper the Crime Lab."
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Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Dave doesn't remember the love Gabe can't forget. Gabe has loved elusive, closeted detective Dave Huntley since they were children. Unfortunately, he's had to watch from the sidelines as Dave makes his way through the available men in their lives. But on the very eve that Gabe senses things between him and Dave may be evolving exactly as he'd hoped, disaster occurs in the form of a violent liquor store robbery. Gabe is forced to put his desires on hold in order to help Dave heal from a head wound that damages Dave's memory and derails both their lives. Caught between gratitude for Dave's recovery and the pain of lost intimacy between them, Gabe has to choose whether to share the truth or wait for Dave to recognize what Gabe's known all along: He and Dave belong together. Can Gabe find the courage to place his faith in Dave, who must rediscover his past and make the tough journey from their shared trauma to a future free of fear? Partners in Grime is a friends-to-lovers story with a guaranteed HEA.
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Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Dare Buckley has come home—or at least, he’s come back to Palladian, the small town he left as a teenager. After a major lapse in judgment forced him to resign from the Seattle PD, Palladian is the only place that’ll hire him. There’s one benefit to hitting rock bottom, though: the chance to investigate the mystery of his father’s suicide. He also gets to reacquaint himself with Finn Fowler, whose childhood hero worship ended in uncomfortable silence when Dare moved away. But Finn isn’t the same little kid Dare once protected. He’s grown into an attractive, enigmatic stranger who neither wants nor needs what Dare has to offer. In fact, Dare soon realizes that Finn is keeping secrets—his own and the town’s. And he doesn’t seem to care that Dare needs answers. The atmosphere in Palladian, like its namesake river, appears placid, but dark currents churn underneath. When danger closes in, Dare must pit his ingenuity against his heart, and find his way home the hard way.
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Character Identities: Gay
Summary: The Brothers Grime Book 2 Loving yourself can be a tough job... Eddie and Andrew have dynamite chemistry, except Eddie is profoundly dyslexic, and Andrew lives to read. Andrew is pathologically disorganized, and Eddie likes things neat and clutter-free. Andrew is desperately ashamed of his hoarder father—a secret that could pull them apart even as a friend's tragedy brings them together. When Andrew's father's condition deteriorates and he nearly dies because of his compulsion, Eddie and Andrew must learn compassion begins with loving oneself in Eddie: Grime Doesn't Pay.
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Character Identities: Gay
Summary: The Brothers Grime Book 1 One man's tough job is a path to love. The Brothers Grime is Jack Masterson's way of helping people in crisis after disability ends his career as a firefighter. Jack's people get to a scene long after the physical trauma ends. They don't solve crime or rescue the victims. They help people move on. The new job is all Jack wants or needs, until he gets the call about old flame Nick Foasberg's suicide. Ryan Halloran's cousin Nick has been on a downhill slide for a long time. Despite that, Ryan does everything he knows to help. Ryan only understands part of what happened between Nick and Jack in high school, but after Nick's suicide, Ryan agrees both he and Jack need closure. They work together to clean the scene and despite the situation, heat flares between them. Jack is keeping a painful secret and fighting his attraction to Nick's lookalike cousin, Ryan. Ryan calls himself a magnet for lost causes and worries Jack might be the next in a long line of losers. Despite his misgivings, despite the past and the mistakes they've both made, Jack gives Ryan something to look forward to, and Ryan gives Jack a reason to stop looking back, in Grime and Punishment. This is a rerelease of the 2013 novel with bonus stories in the Grime-verse!!!
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Summary: Angels love as only angels can. On his way home from school, Kipling Rush falls through some broken boards and lands on the strange boy Chemuel, whom he calls Crash for obvious reasons, and their lives together begin. What's not so obvious is who Chemuel is, why he's down there, or what lies ahead for them in this short story about the transformative power of selfless love. Please note: This rerelease from 2010 is a highly emotional under-thirty-minute short story with complex themes and an ambiguous ending.
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Summary: The snick of a lock. The squeak of door hinges. The creak of a floorboard... Nothing is more mysterious than footsteps in the dark. Are those approaching steps that of friend or enemy? Lover or killer? Authors L.B. Gregg, Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon, Dal MacLean, Z.A. Maxfield, Meg Perry, C.S. Poe and S.C. Wynne join forces for Footsteps in the Dark, eight sexy and suspenseful novellas of Male/Male Mystery and Romance.
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Summary: Jeff Paxton came home from Afghanistan looking to put down roots. Instead his pregnant sister talks him into a job babysitting the volatile megastar Nigel Gasp. Nigel is stubborn, needy, and determined to be the center of attention everywhere he goes. Before long, Jeff realizes that something is bothering Gasp, and that keeping him out of trouble might be more difficult than he thought. Nigel never planned on getting old. He simply assumed a hard drinking, hard partying lifestyle would take care of that. Now that he’s turning forty, he’s depressed and a little bit desperate. To Nigel, forty seems like a fine age to deposit his DNA and check out while he’s still on top. The last thing Jeff needs is to fall in love with Nigel Gasp. The last thing Nigel expects is a whole new reason to live. But how can Jeff put down roots with a man who is never in the same place twice? Love can be shocking. Gasp!
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Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Deep Deception - The Deep Series, book 2 Adin will give up everything for his immortal lover...except his humanity. Adin and Donte have reached a critical point in their relationship. Donte wants forever. Adin isn’t ready. A case of mistaken identity gives Adin the chance to acquire an artifact his old foe Ned Harwiche covets. He jumps at the opportunity, if only as payback for all the dirty tricks Harwiche has pulled over the years. Unfortunately, the prize this time turns out to be an adolescent boy named Bran. Sickened, Adin vows to help the boy, but like Donte—like a lot of the world Adin never knew existed—Bran isn’t what he seems to be. While Donte and Adin negotiate the meaning of the word forever, Bran is running out of time. Especially when tragedy and betrayal pit Adin's long-cherished beliefs against Donte's love. Is their love strong enough to overcome their differences and protect the innocent Bran?
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Character Identities: Gay
Summary: There's no leverage like seduction...until love takes a big bite out of Adin's plans. As the Indiana Jones of historical erotica, there is no document Adin Tredeger can't unearth. Why he would risk the biggest coup of his career to join the mile-high club is beyond him. Nevertheless, the disarming, dark-eyed vampire Donte somehow enters Adin's locked airplane washroom and has him completely nude and coming apart, all without a whimper of protest. From that moment, Adin and Donte engage in an international battle of wit and cunning. The prize is a priceless 500-year-old journal with illustrations so erotic the Marquis de Sade would blush. Yet Donte's desire for the journal goes far beyond simple possession. He wrote it. And he's not above using every trick in his otherworldly arsenal—including seduction—to get his journal back. Chemistry draws them together even as fortune tugs them apart. When a third party enters the chase, will Adin and Donte join forces to fight an enemy with a deadly goal—to erase Donte from history forever?
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Summary: The Deep Series, Book 3 Forever is a long time. Even for a vampire. Adin never wanted to be a vampire. He still hasn’t forgiven Donte for turning him. Ned Harwiche's funeral is the perfect opportunity for putting some distance between them, but as a newly turned vampire, Adin mustn't go alone. Cristobel Santos—one of Donte's lifelong enemies—and an attractive Irish vampire named Sean offer to chaperone his trip. They are as determined to help Adin as he is to reject their aid. While Adin denies his new reality he's kidnapped by rogue hunters and used as a lab rat in some skin-searing experiments. Adin's distress electrifies his connection to Donte, but rescue is only the beginning.... Can Donte convince Adin they belong together for eternity?
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Character Identities: Gay
Summary: As mob boss Yvgeny Mosko's open secret, Dylan Anderson is content with a passionate, if loveless, arrangement that affords him a life of luxury. But at 36, he worries he's no longer the "boy" Mosko wants. When a rival gang kidnaps him in a turf war, Mosko unleashes deadly force, leaving no one alive except for a young man whose dark eyes tug at Dylan's heart and the conscience he thought he'd excised long ago. Though he tried to stop the kidnapping, William "Memo" Escobar knows Mosko will use what's left of him to send a powerful message to his rivals. Mosko's pampered pretty boy risks everything to help him escape, and they must go on the run together. As the days go by Memo realizes Dylan's beauty is more than skin deep. As Memo heals, he yearns for things he believed he could never have. But behind their newfound happiness lurks the certainty that no matter how careful they are, Mosko will come for what's his. Can their growing love withstand the forces against them?
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Summary: Tristan knows he’s got issues. His latest ex-girlfriend knows it, too. He can’t blame her for dumping him—even if she sent her brother to do it. Since he can’t stop staring at said brother’s package, he figures it’s about time to put a label on those issues. He likes guys. He heads to the local bookstore with a foolproof plan to find someone to show him what he’s been missing. But who should crash his little adventure? Officer Michael Truax, who gave him a really expensive ticket back in high school for skateboarding without a helmet. Michael has been trying to catch Tristan for years...to give him a second ticket. Suddenly faced with “Sparky”, all grown up and looking to get laid, Michael’s protective instinct kicks in—and presents him with an opportunity that’s hard to resist. After all, the kid must know what he’s getting into, so why not? But when a man with a plan connects with a man with a hunger, the result is nothing short of explosive.
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Summary: A retired marine, Logan is methodical and conservative. Richard is a liberal pacifist who is pathologically afraid of guns. Yet the minute Logan sets eyes on Richard, his heart turns over like an old car engine and it isn't long before his motor is revved and Richard is in the driver's seat—even if it seems like each man is driving a different car. Richard Hunter is parenting his grandson, and the kid—Nick—has had it rough. Richard vows nothing will stop him from creating a loving and stable home. Not even a tempting, red-hot relationship with a very attractive man. However, when Richard looks into Logan’s blue eyes it’s tough to stay focused. It’s never easy to become a family, what with a temperamental eight-year-old, disapproving outsiders, and outright extortion attempts. But when push comes to shove, both Logan and Richard are committed family men who want to make a loving home for a little boy who needs them. Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Anal play/intercourse, male/male sexual practices. (less)
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Summary: Choose your weapons. Jae-sun Fields is pissed. Someone has taken the seminal coming-out, coming-of-age novel Doorways and satirized it. He's determined to use his Internet skills and his job as a tabloid reporter to out the author as the fraud and no-talent hack he's sure she is. Kelly Kendall likes his anonymity and, except for his houseboy, factotum and all-around slut, Will, he craves solitude. There's also that crippling case of OCD that makes it virtually impossible for him to leave the house. He's hidden his authorship of Doorways behind layers of secrets and several years' worth of lies - until he loses a bet. Satirizing his own work, as far as he can see, is his own damned prerogative. Except now he has an online stalker, one who always seems several steps ahead of him in their online duel for information. A chance meeting reveals more than hidden identities - it exposes a mutual magnetic attraction that can't be denied. And pushes the stakes that much higher, into a zone that could get way too personal. Warning: This book contains large Korean men; Will, the houseboy, factotum, and all-around slut; hot sexy manlove including oral sex, and serious ass play. (Jae's note to self: OCD + socks + mouth = BAD.)
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Summary: Daniel Livingston is finally free. He's come clean about his passionless marriage and moved to St. Nacho's where he can spend time with his brother. Now he's ready to explore the endless sexual buffet being hot and rich and single has to offer. The problem is a firefighter named Cameron Rooney who haunts his every waking thought and half his dreams. No doubt about it. Cam is going to require a level of honesty Dan has never before considered, and in order to achieve that, he will have to turn his life inside out. Coming clean to his ex-wife will cost him money, doing right by St. Nacho's will anger his business partner, and exploring a painful family secret will hurt the one person Dan has sworn to protect. Cam's faith in Dan is tested and Dan's belief in himself is nearly non-existent. In the end, forging a new path could cost him everything or net him the most important score of his life in The Book Of Daniel.
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Summary: Cooper has spent the last three years running from a painful past. He's currently moving from town to town, working in restaurant kitchens, and playing his violin for tips. As soon as he starts to feel comfortable anywhere--with anyone--he moves on. He's aware that music may be the only human language he still knows. Ironically, the one man he's wanted to communicate with in all that time is deaf. Shawn is part of a deaf theater group at the nearby college. Shawn wants Cooper as soon as they meet and he begins a determined flirtation. Cooper is comfortable with down and dirty sex, just not people. As far as Shawn is concerned, dirty sex is win-win, but he wants Cooper to let him into the rest of his life as well. Cooper needs time to heal and put his past away for good. Shawn needs to help Cooper forgive himself and accept that he can be loved. Both men find out that when it comes to the kind of healing love can bring, the sleepy beachside town of Santo Ignacio, "St. Nacho's" as the locals call it, may just be the very best place to start.
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Summary: Jacob "Yasha"" Livingston is having a bad day. First there is the head cold. Then the orgy, the fight, and the hospital. Between that and the bus driver who ejects him―after accusing him of transmitting the Swine Flu―the rest of his day seems fairly vague. Now he's stuck in a small town called Santo Ignacio and he has a whole lot of thinking to do. One thing is, when fate speaks in the form of an EMT, maybe it's time to listen. One man in particular, EMT Jason "JT" Lents, with his shy smile and jade green eyes, seems more like an angel than a paramedic. But Jason has a date with a newer, prettier girl every night, despite the fact that he seems to return Yasha's interest. What will make JT happy? If JT is afraid of his feelings it might be Yasha's chance to heal the healer. For this couple to find their way, it's up to Jacob, his new friends, and the magic of St. Nacho's.
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Summary: For reasons they can't explain, Ken and Jordan are drawn together, each finding in each other the thing they most need. When Jordan Jensen moves to St. Nacho's he has one goal in mind: starting over. He wants to reconnect with best friends Cooper and Shawn yet is uncertain of his welcome. He has the skills to get a job, but isn't sure any prospective employer can get past the time he spent in jail for alcohol-related vehicular homicide. He's past the worst part of his life but knows it will haunt him forever. So Jordan plans a life of quiet service. One thing he knows for sure: finding love is entirely too much to ask. On the first day of his new job, Jordan meets Ken Ashton. Ken has every reason to hate Jordan for his past: Ken's baseball career was shattered in a drunk-driving accident. But for some reason he can't explain, Ken needs Jordan's touch and finds healing within Jordan's warmth and strength. Without entirely understanding it, Ken and Jordan develop a powerful emotional and erotic connection, but Ken must help Jordan find the faith to trust it. Unexpected help comes from the people of Santo Ignacio--and the town itself--a place where Physical Therapy can be a path toward spiritual healing and powerful, passionate love.
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Character Identities: Bisexual, Gay
Summary: Re-release of bestelling 2009 novel What happens when Rory travels halfway across the country to meet the girl of his dreams? Certainly not what he expected... Rory's just be a simple southern boy from St. Antoine's Parish, Louisiana, but he knows what he wants -- the girl of his dreams, reclusive and mysterious artist Ran Yamane. He's loved her since junior high school, and now he has the chance to meet her. He chucks everything and travels 1,500 miles to Anime Expo in Long Beach just so he can tell her. He's determined that nothing and nobody are going to stand in his way. Turns out, Ran Yamane isn't a girl, but he gets that a lot. People come to him with teddy bears and chocolates and disappointment by the truckload. He's trusted fans in the past and paid the price. So when he meets Rory he is understandably wary, but resigned. He isn't prepared for his magnetic attraction to the young man, Rory's apparent willingness to overlook his gender, and the chaos that ensues when his number one fan (and psycho stalker) shows up to get revenge.
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Summary: Book 2 of The Stirring Series - Brendan's story. After Brendan and his mother witness a completely random tragedy, his carefully controlled life begins to fall apart. First he starts having nightmares and panic attacks, and then he loses focus in his daily life. His board of directors insists he take a vacation at a so-called "relaxation destination" and to make matters worse, they've hired newly minted psychiatrist, Dr. Dirk Melovitch, to accompany him. Dirk, whose job it is to help Brendan learn to relax, walks into the lobby of Brendan's hotel wearing a borrowed suit and an attitude that rubs Brendan the wrong way from the moment they meet. They head for the airport and their carefully planned itinerary goes out the window, one small setback at a time. From the airports of New York and Atlanta, to the long, lonely highways of Texas, to an upscale rehab destination in Santa Fe, Brendan and Dirk each try to gain the upper hand until both find out that it's not just life that can get a guy All Stirred Up.
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Character Identities: Gay
Summary: Fitz Gaffney finally has some breathing room. His mother’s out of town, his piano coaches have backed off, and he’s spending his time in a music conservatory where he only has to be adequate for an entire year before all his responsibilities comes crashing back in again. Along with his new free time comes the realization that he’s lonely, but his first attempt to make new friends goes horribly awry. Fitz’s new — but possibly imaginary — friends, Evan and Serge want to help him find happiness. His used-to-be-step-brother Ari Scheffield wants to help him gain confidence and a little much-needed cool. His housekeeper Marguerite wants to keep fowl in the back yard for butchering because Duck confit is expensive and she has pillows to re-stuff. And his possible new boyfriend Garrett wants to prove he didn’t mean for their first date to end with Fitz lying unconscious in a Dumpster. All Fitz wants is someone to care about him, but suddenly there seems to be a glut. How’s a shy guy to know what’s real when he’s confronted by crazy ghosts, a less than truthful boyfriend, and relatives with hidden motives in Rhapsody For Piano and Ghost.
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Summary: Book one in The Stirring Series - Evan's story. When Toby's sister tells him he should look up an acquaintance whose restaurant -- Le Potiron -is failing, he doesn't have much choice. Because of pranks, indiscretions, and plain bad timing, his ability to work in New York's temples of haute cuisine is a thing of the past. Soon, Toby is cooking up more than a little trouble for kilted restaurateur, Evan Blankenship. Next, Toby's in bed, literally, with the cook, who hates people, trying to save a restaurant that only the neighborhood mothers seem to love, and on the verge of another -possibly painful -- lesson or two about what it means to be successful. Evan hates everyone but Toby. Toby likes to stir things up. See what's on the menu at Le Potiron, in Stirring Up Trouble. Food, fun, and a guaranteed HEA. Up next, All Stirred Up, Book 2 - Brendan's story!
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Summary: Fire costs Jared Kenny his home and all his memories of the man he's loved for over half his life. But it also brings him firefighter Adam Collins, and the purest blue eyes Jared has ever seen. Despite the best efforts of his department, Adam has to watch Jared's house burn to the ground. But something about Jared touches Adam and makes him want to follow up after the fire. Later, alone in an isolated mountain cabin, the two of them give in to their passion, which burns and bares them both. So Jared runs...from Adam, from his past, and from everything their future together can hold. He tries to start a new life, taking only a newfound passion for glass and his obsession for finding a particular shade of blue--the blue at the heart of a flame. It takes a near-tragedy to teach him that the blue he seeks has been with him all along...in his firefighter's eyes. Re-release of 2009 Novella
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Summary: Has Max Lancaster lost his muse? Or his mind…? Max Lancaster’s neighbor, the young ballerina Elena, has gone missing. Between secrets from his past and the fact that he’s altering his work in his sleep, he fears he’s losing his mind. By the time forensic artist Sumner Ellison arrives as part of the investigation, even Max can see himself in the role of person of interest. Sumner Ellison doesn’t believe that Max killed Elena, yet he isn’t certain Max is sane. Sumner offers Max two things he needs: oblivion in bed and unflinching honesty. Max loses himself in his young lover's body while protecting his heart from his love. But doubt pulls them apart. Can the power of Max’s passion and the purity of Sumner’s faith create a love that won’t fade away over time?
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Summary: Rerelease of 2010 title: What Child is This? A Crossing Borders Christmas Story. Michael and Tristan are finally taking that much needed weekend away for Christmas. They’ve been working so hard at their respective careers there hasn’t been time for a breather, much less a chance to reconnect and see if they’ve been working toward what they both want. Like always, Michael’s well-laid plan is derailed by a phone call from Apple House. Three of their charges have gone missing and while Michael is worried, it’s not unusual for the young adults who stay at the shelter for homeless LGBT teens to come and go. But when one of them calls Michael and asks if – hypothetically speaking – it’s considered kidnapping to keep a baby who’s been abandoned, Michael and Tristan head home with all speed to sort things out.
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Summary: Rafe Colman likes his life. He has a nice home, a good job, and a wonderful dog. But he's exhausted by living a lie. When his home is vandalized because of his perceived German ancestry, he can't even share the irony with friends. Officer Ben Morgan falls for Rafe's dog first, but it isn't long before he's giving her owner the eye. He thinks they have more in common than the search for Rafe's vandals, and he's willing to take a chance and find out. If life in 1955 is tough on a cop in the closet, it's even tougher on a refugee who's desperate to hide his roots and fit in. Rafe knows from tragic experience how vicious prejudice can be. Every second with Ben is stolen, every kiss fraught with danger. Can these two gentle, scarred men find a life together?
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Summary: Ever since the accident that cost him his job on the Seattle police force, Kevin Quinn has been living with psychic abilities he refers to as the ‘gift that keeps on taking’. His attempts to use his talents to help the police have met with limited success. Yet, when teenage boys start going missing from the beach cities of Southern California, Kevin gets on a plane. Connor Dougal has every reason to believe all psychics are fakes and charlatans. He’s still numb from the disappearance of his first love, a boy who went missing ten years earlier. Everything he aspires to is a direct result of that tragedy, even the acquisition of his detective shield. The irony of having to babysit Kevin Quinn is not lost on him. These two suspicious men must develop trust and respect for one another to solve the case and, on the way, maybe fall in love.
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Summary: **Reedited and Updated version of a free series written in 2008** Ethan Holmes and Barry Moffit have been in love since they were kids. These stories -- re-edited for quality content and given a Winterheart Designs cover -- were written in 2008, in part as a protest over the passage of Proposition 8 in California. They follow the course of Ethan and Barry's love affair in ten year intervals from the moment they first admit it, at prom in 1978, to a major breakup and reconciliation in 1988, to a family vacation in Hawaii that turns into more in 1998, and election night 2008, a time of deliberation and decision. This version includes the *bonus* holiday (also previously published) story “The Cursed Noel.”
