Gay Romance Report November 1, 2022

Dreaming about my best friend’s brother is one thing, him actually falling for me is another.

Baking cupcakes for the science department bake-off shouldn’t strike fear into the heart of chemistry teacher Noah, but his previous record hasn’t exactly been glowing. In an attempt to stave off another year in last place, Noah turns to the one man who might be able to help him: his best friend’s older brother, Spencer.

Noah’s had a crush on the vibrant and sporty footballer turned baker for years, but the chances of anything happening between them are slim to none. Spencer is caring, funny, gorgeous… and totally straight.

Spencer has never thought about dating men before, but after watching Noah lick buttercream off a whisk he’s suddenly realising he’s not as straight as previously thought.

Revelations about his sexuality are one thing, but his footballing past being dragged into the present is another and Spencer isn’t sure which is more stressful. But he’s sure about one thing: he wants Noah in his life. Now all they have to do is figure out how to make their wishes come true.

Like I Wished is a hot and heart-warming best friend’s brother contemporary MM romance featuring adorable ghost cupcakes, a bisexual awakening over baking, gate-crashed first dates, gym-bro besties, and lots of hot chocolate.

It is book two in the Heather Bay series and while it can be read as a standalone, it’s best enjoyed as part of the series.

The Shy Assistant
Maurice Baranov III has more feelings than he should for his boss, Mr. Guidry. He watches over Mr. Guidry as part of his job, and Maurice has given up on trying to keep his feelings in check, even though he hides them. Maurice doesn’t think of himself as the type of guy who gets a happy relationship. The last man he dated got angry when he started trying to lose weight. With all that past baggage, he can’t imagine pursuing Mr. Guidry, so he is left with one option—forever wishing he could be with the man he loves.

The Clueless Boss
Fenwick “Wick” Guidry comes from a long line of businessmen who are good at keeping their work and homelife separate. He is failing miserably at upholding the tradition because he has been unable to think about anyone except his assistant.

One Vicious Prank
After accidentally upsetting Maurice at the office, Wick invites him out for drinks to apologize. They meet up with Maurice’s cousin Lacey, who is having troubles of her own. Wick and Maurice promise to help her pull a prank on Edgar—a guy from their office who is annoying her—by agreeing to go on a double date. Who wouldn’t be shocked to arrive on a date and find their boss waiting? Will Wick be able to transform his role of fake boyfriend into a real relationship? Or will he be too scared to take the next step with Maurice?

On the first day of Christmas, my dear aunt sent to me: twenty-four dares in a fugly advent tree…

The only way I’m going to survive a month of holly jolly misery post-breakup is to hibernate through the Christmas season before moving away for my new job.

Two things blow my straightforward plan to smithereens: 1. My lovable aunt, who guilts me into watching her spoiled weiner dogs—who do NOT like me—while she’s gone for the holiday. 2. My scheming aunt’s surprising tenant, Warren, who I just can’t seem to get out of my head.

To add insult to inconvenience, I find my aunt’s filled my childhood advent calendar—the one I’d designed for dares instead of days—with sappy, festive, time-suckers. Now, stuck at her house, I’m completely baffled because I can’t look away from Warren’s big smile, warm eyes, and unrelenting Christmas cheer. I’ve never felt like this for a man before, but it’s like my heart’s a Magic 8 ball stuck on “All signs point to Yes” whenever he’s around.

Warren’s offer to guide me through the festive challenges as my personal elf raises my festive mood, among—ahem—other things. Now I’m coming to terms with not only wanting a guy to jingle my bells, but Warren’s company is taking me from local Grinch to wannabe Santa in a heartbeat.

Am I actually living in a Hallmark fan’s wet dream? Maybe, but Warren’s making me the jolliest I’ve felt in years—all while slowly but steadily capturing my reluctant heart.

24 Dares of Christmas is a low angst, bisexual awakening MM Christmas romance set in the Dahlia Springs universe. This standalone story is stuffed fuller than a stocking with Christmas traditions, family fun, candy cane sweetness, and appearances by characters in the Tap That Brewery series.

Waking up with no memory is just the beginning of his troubles…

Not knowing who he is or how he ended up naked in a park in Vienna, Gabriel struggles to reclaim his past while still moving forward into an uncertain future. It isn’t long before he realizes that not having an identity isn’t the only thing that makes him different. Plants and people glow with magic all around him, and he’s actually able to speak to his very own guardian angel—even though the angel won’t tell him anything about who he really is.

As he tries to learn something about his prior life, Gabriel finds himself inexplicably drawn to two very different men: Solomon, the exorcist priest who found Gabriel and has been helping him try to remember who he once was; and Florian, an occultist coffee shop owner whose own tragic past allows him to accept Gabriel even without memories.

But without the foundation of a past, Gabriel worries the life he’s building will crumble around him. As Gabriel’s health begins to dwindle—and not even his angel can explain why—he scrambles to find answers before he’s taken away from the happiness he’s found and the men he loves.

Equinox is the first in the Augarten series and is an 88,000-word MMM romance with magical realism, an amnesiac willing to try just about anything to remember, a priest with unpriestly thoughts, and lots of espresso.

The Augarten series is now complete and is best read in order: Equinox, Syzygy, Hiraeth, Florian, Newyddian, and Eviternity.

PRIVATE MATTERS

Since he was young, Jory Longstone has been keeping a diary to catalogue his exploits, which helps inspire his music. He finds solace in managing his complicated life through the written word, which he never intended for anyone else to read.

Until one man did, and he now controls Jory’s life.

While his band’s star is rising, Jory remains trapped and ashamed – closed off from emotional attachments for fear of discovery.

And then he meets Damian Foyle, manager of his family-owned cinema, a place where Jory loves to hide and relax. The antithesis of a rockstar, Damian loves his martial arts classes, tinkering with motor parts, and the simple life.

Damian’s first meeting with Jory is just shy of a disaster, and yeah, the second one isn’t all that great either.

Jory is annoying, sexy as hell, temperamental, and one helluva rock god in tight trousers. It’s all Damian can do not to burn up in the heat of the man’s fiery personality.

But getting close to his heart is another thing altogether, and Damian won’t settle for anything less.

An alpha who gave up everything to heed the call to battle, and the omega who refused to wait for him…

When Emmett left, he shattered my heart. It took me years to put the broken pieces back together, and now he’s back, acting like he can just pick up where he left off.

The pack might still recognize him as its rightful leader, but if he thinks it’s going to work with me, he’s dead wrong. I’m not fragile, lovesick boy he abandoned without a care.

But as much as I try to push him away, there’s something about him that still gets under my skin. Something that simmers like heat and aches like love, but one night–one moment of weakness–results in a consequence that could bind us both forever.

Now I’m the one who has to choose between the family I’ve always wanted and the life I’ve built without him?

If Emmett wants me, he’s going to have to prove it. And this time, I’m not going to make it easy for him.

–

Omega’s Choice is a second chance mpreg shifter romance between a possessive alphahole warrior and an omega with an MD who isn’t going to take any of his BS. Prepare for high angst, high heat, and strong pack and family dynamics, with each story in the series focusing on a different couple’s journey.

Narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo

Will an innocent prince forced into marriage choose passion?

Sheltered in the palace with his books, Jem’s life is peaceful. Even if he’s lonely and yearning for romance, the big, strong men he wants don’t crave small, timid princes.

Then he’s forced to marry a mysterious barbarian.

Jem must do his duty—even if it means being stuck with Cador, a brute who dismisses him as weak. Even if it means a fake marriage in name only for the sake of their homelands. Even if he must leave behind everything and everyone to journey to a forbidding island of ice and stone.

Even if there’s only one bed.

Alone with this wild—yet tender?—man, Jem discovers desire that burns hotter than he ever imagined. Can two strangers learn to trust, or will dangerous lies tear them apart?

Wed to the Barbarian by Keira Andrews is a gay romance fantasy featuring enemies to lovers, an age gap, forced proximity, first times, and of course a happy ending (eventually). This is the first action-adventure romance in the Barbarian Duet and must be listened to before The Barbarian’s Vow.

Hayden Green is the epitome of a cheery, generous, small-town guy. He keeps himself busy in a tiny railroad town tucked in the hills of the Midwest by helping others. If he also finds himself wishing for a tall, dark, and handsome man to waltz into town and sweep him off his feet, who can blame him?

Gannon Snow closed himself off to emotions and connections a long time ago. He’ll head back to his late grandfather’s beloved holiday town, but only to sell the old man’s house and store. He has his own business to run and no time for feelings. Much to his chagrin, Gannon gets caught up in nostalgia and finds himself mesmerized by a happy little holiday helper.

Hayden and Gannon share an instant connection, but Gannon isn’t staying and Hayden isn’t keen on a broken heart. However, the universe—and maybe some holiday magic, which Gannon most definitely doesn’t believe in—has a different plan, and the men find themselves smack dab in the middle of a small-town Christmas romance.

**The Heart of St. Nick is a steamy, forced proximity, small-town M/M holiday romance with a slight age gap between a bowtie and suspender-wearing good guy and an emotionally-stunted man with a cold heart just waiting to be melted.**

A happily ever after only ten years in the making.

For ten years Mase has tried to tamp down his feelings for Jazz. Every time they come close to having something real, Jazz panics and disappears. They break apart only to collide again. After three years away, Mase comes home just in time to see something that twists his insides. Jazz was slipped a drug that loosens his tongue just enough to let a bit of his past slip free. But he only calls out for one person, Mase.

They’re locked together for the next few weeks. Mase is determined to show Jazz that there’s something undeniable between them, even if Jazz fights him every step of the way. But their investigation takes a dark turn, and Mase’s past is trying to catch up with him and push Jazz out of the way.

Monsters are made, not born…

Most called him the Jailor. Some called him a monster. If he had a name, nobody had survived meeting him long enough to tell it. They said he sat atop a mound of skulls and marked each death on his throne, like notches on a bedpost. Some tales told of how he had wings as dark as night, and of how he wore a crown of razor wire woven around four horns.

Dante had heard all the stories before.

The only tale he cared for was the one that said the jailor could bleed. If the jailor could bleed, then he could die, and Dante was going to be the one to finally kill him.

This is the story of how all those tales were wrong. And so was Dante.

There are three kinds of people in Honeybridge, Maine: The Honeycutts, who know a lot about love and loyalty; The Wellbridges, who think they’re the epitome of wealth and refinement; and the rest of the Honeybridgers, who know better than to get in the way of the centuries-old rivalry between the two.

There wasn’t a time when I didn’t know Flynn “Firecracker” Honeycutt.

He’s been my childhood friend. My high school rival. The guy I couldn’t stop dreaming about, long after I thought I’d left him and Honeybridge in my rear-view mirror.

Now he’s the key to the giant promotion that can make or break my career… if I can just convince the man to give me the distribution rights for his award-winning mead.

Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done.

Flynn’s not the guy he used to be. His gorgeous eyes used to spark with dreams and fire, but now he looks at me with cold fury. And just like Achilles had his heel and Samson had his hair, I had Flynn Honeycutt, the one man I’d never been able to charm, despite an entire life spent winning people over.

I’m not giving up, though. Because I’m not the kid I used to be, either. And because, if the two of us can survive a long, hot summer filled with his family’s crazy antics and my mother’s single-handed determination to keep the Wellbridge-Honeycutt feud alive, there might just be a chance for both of us to get what we want:

A new dream.

The fulfillment of an old town legend.

And another chance to spark Firecracker to life.