Gay Romance Report November 11, 2022

Once upon a time, a bunch of authors wondered… what would happen if Heart2Heart, the dating app responsible for pairing up the quirkiest, most perfect couples, brought people together by asking the questions they never knew they needed answered?

From learning each other’s secret zombie survival skills, to disputing the greatest starship captain ever, to confessing their feelings about Cornish pasties, the characters in these fourteen brand new stories inspired by reader suggestions will learn that no matter how random the question… love is always the answer.

And, as always, all proceeds from this anthology will benefit LGBTQ+ charities to ensure that love in all its incarnations will be celebrated and protected every day of the year!

Participating authors: Alice Winters, Con Riley, Daryl Banner, Eden Finley, Kate Hawthorne, Kelly Fox, Lane Hayes, Lily Morton, Max Walker, Nicole Dykes, Onley James, Rachel Ember, Saxon James, Sloane Kennedy

Fake romance shouldn’t feel this real…

Will: I’ve never been with a man.

Sure, I’ve thought about it. Wondered. Daydreamed. Imagined. But I wasn’t ready to take the leap.

I have a reputation as a “ladies’ man.” No one has any idea how curious I am about men—not even my openly bi best friend. Make that former best friend. Michael ghosted me, and I have no idea why.

Michael: The man I love is straight.

It hurt like hell when I had to distance myself from Will. I’ve tried desperately to grow up and get over him, but my carefully constructed life just fell apart—and Will rushes to my rescue.

Now we’re pretending to be a couple to impress his boss at a holiday retreat. We’re holding hands and hugging.

We’re sharing a bed.

And Will just kissed me.

Is my best friend falling in love with me after all?

The Christmas Leap by Keira Andrews is a Christmas romance featuring friends to lovers, bi awakening, first times, and of course a happy ending. This standalone novel takes place in the same universe as The Christmas Deal.

Tiller:

As the first openly gay professional football player, I can’t afford to make any mistakes, on or off the field. And the absolute biggest mistake I could make right now would be to fall for Mikey Vining, my best friend, employee and, more importantly, Coach’s baby boy. I might fantasize about Mikey at night-—every night—but actually touching him would be a serious personal foul. 

And falling for him? That’s completely out of bounds.

Mikey:

I’ve learned my lesson about falling for one of my dad’s players. They’re a bunch of spoiled jocks with more muscles than brains. I’ve spent years learning to keep my eyes, and my hands, to myself. But resisting the temptation becomes nearly impossible when Tiller Raine and I end up together in a small cabin in a remote Colorado town. 

Suddenly, there’s not much to do but look at each other. And talk. And hopefully, hopefully touch.

But what happens when our stay in Aster Valley is over and it’s time to return to the real world? Will Coach blow the whistle on our relationship? Or will Tiller admit there might actually be something he loves more than football after all?

Liam

Womanizer. Player. Manwhore.

They’re all titles I’ve leaned into over the last few years.

But, I’m finally settled, working as a volunteer firefighter alongside my best friend, and being a part time EMT; I have it all. At least on paper.

The thing nobody knows, is that I’m a liar. A fraud. A fake.

Hiding my sexuality behind a smokescreen has become second nature, and it’s not good. Especially when feelings start creeping up for someone they shouldn’t be.

Greg

Serving as a police officer in the local Sheriff’s office is exactly where I’m meant to be. I’m the gay police officer, and I’m comfortable enough in myself not to be ashamed of it.

Sparks fly when the local firefighter crosses my path, but with his reputation, it’s clear to see he’s not ready for more.

Friends by day, lovers by night, but how long can it stay that way? Am I enough for him to start a life together with, or am I just a fun phase that he will soon get tired of?

Felix is a miserable incubus, but he does his best to hide his misery. For the most part. Adopted and rejected by strict Catholics, Felix is ashamed of his body’s needs. Work isn’t much better. He’s a star litigator at his law firm, but hates every second. Oh, and he’s in love with his best friend Chris, who happens to be a fellow attorney, his roomie, and a sexy as sin freshwater merman.

After Truth or Dare on Halloween loosens their lips in more ways than one, Felix pumps the breaks and challenges them both to a bet. No release for a month, or the loser moves out. Chris agrees with a counterproposal. Felix has to come to terms with being an incubus, otherwise he loses Chris.

Chris’s life is pretty peachy. His estate planning clients are great… mostly. He sees Felix every day and has the family lake to look forward to every Saturday. But as Felix investigates being an incubus, a few things of his own mer nature come to light, changing his perspective on his family.

Merman Kisses and Starving Incubi is a fluffy and spicy MM paranormal romance featuring the pine-y-est of pining besties to lovers idiots. A sugar-loving incubus that’s not a virgin, thank you very much. And a freshwater merman that may be a touch too obsessed with his long hair. Please check trigger warnings in the Author’s Note.

Marley Jacobs is dead, and Max Masters Scrooge has no time for the sob story of the grieving son. Even if Jacobs Jr. is kinda cute—for a nerd.

Daniel Jacobs is anxious, drifting, and lonely. His gut tells him he’s overdue for a dose of self-care, but the thought of setting foot in a gym gives him hives. Though he craves gentle guidance, what he gets is the heavy hand of the gym’s head trainer and sleaziest playboy, Max Masters.

Accustomed to topping the leaderboard, among other things, Max sells Daniel on his gold package. After things get steamy in the locker room showers, Max is ready to make like a ghost and vanish, as usual. But this time, he won’t get away with his selfish antics, not if a vengeful past hookup with a powerful uncle has anything to say about it.

M.M. Scrooge is a spicy hot horror retelling of A Christmas Carol, as part of the collaboration Monsters & Mayhem: A horror collection adapting some of your favorite classics with an MM romance twist. Content warnings inside.

Every witch way but dead.
Everyone is taught male witches have very little power, even the only child of one of the most influential families of the ruling body of magic, the Dominion. Seiran spends his time hiding in plain sight, flirting dangerously with his vampire boss and occasional lover, Gabe, and studying magic as required by his powerful mother. All with the hopes to slip under the radar and not be the next witch burned at the stake.

Seiran finds himself forced to prove his abilities in a test of elemental magic against the Pillar of Earth, and comes out on top, shocking everyone. But phenomenal powers bring a lot of the wrong kind of attention. The kind he could have lived without, literally.

When witches around him begin to fall, murdered for their power, he finds fingers pointed in his direction. Can he stop the killer before he ends up the next victim?

The complete series is on sale! Books 1-3 are just 99c each.

City boy, sci-fi novelist, and recovering pushover Scott Howe doesn’t know what to expect when he inherits his grandmother’s house outside the quaint village of Gilead, Ohio—but it isn’t an enormous bald man in nothing but tighty-whities and orange rubber boots shouting at him to keep his weed-wacker away from the rhubarb patch.
Scott has never met anyone like Phineas Robertson: homesteader, recluse… Republican. A tender—if unlikely—friendship grows over the summer while Phin and his schnauzer, Sister Mary Katherine, teach Scott about life in the country and the grandmother he never knew. Opposites attract, but widower Phin worries his secret will send Scott running faster than his politics, and Phin isn’t convinced he deserves a second chance at romance.
Scott is convinced—rural life, and his one-of-a-kind, older neighbor, is the future he wants. Before he can settle in, his mother drops a bombshell that strains their already tenuous relationship, and a cousin who believes he is the rightful heir to the property puts Scott in danger. It’ll take a lot of compromises, and even dodging a few bullets before they’re out of the weeds, but nurturing something as special as true love always takes hard work.

When Dariel’s eyes meet Prince Curren’s, he’s immediately caught in the dragon’s fiery gaze. Dariel runs, but he can’t stay away. The temptation is too great. He goes to see the dragon again, and this time, he’s caught for real. The prince takes him back to his castle, to his chambers.

“You’re mine,” he tells Dariel.

Dariel doesn’t want to be a dragon’s fated mate. He doesn’t want anything to do with any paranormal creature. They’re the reason mortals like him went all but extinct. The reason his people have to live in hiding.

Dariel knows if he tried to run back to his community, he would lead the prince right to them. It’s not a risk he can take.

He has to remain by the dragon’s side, share his room… and his bed.

Please note, this book does NOT contain mpreg

It was your smile.
Your laugh.
The color of your eyes.
The way you looked at me when no one else was looking.
The way you held me.
The way you kissed me.
It was everything about you I loved.

The flattening of that smile.
The silence of your laughter.
The loss of your lips.
The way you left.
The way you destroyed it all.
The way you destroyed me.
Destroyed us.
It was everything about you I hated.

Everything about you.
I wanted.
Needed.
Hoped for.
And that day you not only broke my heart.
You f*cking crushed it.

Narrated by Keval Shah

Getting signed as an exclusive model for a new fashion line is a dream come true for Asa, but is there more to the rich Ruslan than meets the eye?

Being a model was supposed to be temporary for Asa McGogh aka Augustine Hart. His fashion career was meant to be a stepping-stone to acting, but when he gets an exclusive contract that comes with a hefty payday, he can’t say no. It would be a privilege for any model to be exclusive for a new fashion line built by millionaire, Ruslan Kozlova, and it doesn’t hurt that Ruslan is both charming, a flirt, and incredibly handsome.

Ruslan Kozlova has a lonely life. Being a mafia boss isn’t easy, and all he wants to do is find the right person to stay by his side. When he sees Asa on a billboard, he knows he must have him, and he’ll do anything to make it happen, even bankroll an entire fashion line to get him close. Ruslan doesn’t want to be like every other businessman who expects more than Asa is willing to give him, though, so he decides to charm him the old-fashioned way. The more time Ruslan spends with Asa, the more he comes to realize how different Asa is from every other man he has met. Asa is pure and sweet, and Ruslan will do anything to keep him from the dark part of his life. But what happens when Asa finds out who Ruslan really is?

Exclusive is part of the Model Love multiauthored series. Each book can be listened to as a standalone, in any order, but there are so many models falling in love, why not listen to them all?

Despite all these years apart and knowing my best friend is straight, my feelings for him haven’t changed. Sometimes, I wish I wasn’t so broken, maybe then I could speak my truth.

Starting over was never going to be easy. I’d spent over a decade ruining my life, and the whole point of returning to Cresson Point was to finally make a genuine attempt to fix everything I’d screwed up. Years of alcohol, drugs, and…other things would haunt me forever, but I was clean and sober now, and this was the first real chance I’d given myself.

It didn’t take long to realize just how hard it was going to be. Panic attacks, people tiptoeing around me…temptation everywhere. They say yesterday’s pain is today’s strength, and I had to figure out how to live my life while facing the demons of my past. That included a few surprises, like running into Owen. Oh God, Owen! There were so many secrets, but he had always been strong, my safe haven, and maybe this was my chance to finally make things right. My feelings for my straight, former best friend hadn’t changed, but why was he so determined to have me back in his life?

Suddenly, getting my life back on track felt even more important. If anyone besides my siblings deserved to see me at my best, it was Owen.

All I could do was try…day by day.

Despite the secrets, the heartache, the pain, and so many missed opportunities. Will Robin be able to overcome his demons? Can he recapture his friendship with Owen, and will there ever be a chance of…more?