Word Count: 141000
Summary: What could an undercover cop and a drug lord’s pet psychic have in common? Brian Kerr has spent years hiding behind a facade of mental slowness. His brother and sister got all three of them off the streets and into a cushy life, under the protection of a dangerous criminal. But to keep that safety, Brian has to use his Finding talent to track down the boss’s enemies. Although he pretends not to know what he’s really doing, each Find takes its toll, and he’s trapped in a life he hates, losing touch with his true self. Nick Rugo’s job is to protect and serve the people of Minneapolis as an undercover cop. He isn’t closeted, but he isn’t out at work, and there’s a wild, angry side to him that he’s managed to keep hidden until now. When he’s assigned to bring Brian’s boss to justice, he intends to use anything and anyone it takes to do that. Nick initially sees Brian as a pawn to be played in his case, but he keeps getting glimpses of a different man behind the slow, simpleminded mask. As the two men get to know each other, it becomes clear they share secrets, some of which might get them both killed.
Word Count: 133000
Summary: Brian can Find a lost child or a wanted criminal, but when his secret gets out, even Nick’s skills and connections may not be enough to keep them safe. Brian Kerr is now free of his dangerous boss and his domineering brother. He’s eager to start using his psychic Finding talent to help people, if he can figure out how to do that safely. His dyslexia, and his tendency to act simpleminded under stress, make building his new life a daunting challenge. And while his not-quite-boyfriend, Nick, is willing to support him, in bed and out of it, Brian doesn’t want to lean on Nick. If their relationship is going anywhere, he has to be a full partner and handle his own problems. Nick Rugo’s walking a tightrope instead of settling into the ordinary cop’s life he’d hoped for. He’s hiding too many things from too many people. He has told professional and unprofessional lies that will come back to haunt him. Now, with Brian determined to start Finding again, he’s not sure he can protect the man he cares for. If all that wasn’t enough to make him start punching walls, he also has a suspicion that Brian’s brother Damon and sister Lori may be out there, lurking, ready to complicate their lives.
Word Count: 96000
Summary: "Today I swam through MOMA. Leon says it was a waste, encasing the art, then flooding the museum—frivolous and elitist. I say it was a gesture of optimism, a triumph of technology and political will." Want to thrill to the possibilities of a hopeful future? We asked a bunch of sci-fi writers to spin tales of a better future, imagining ways in which the world might become a better place. From a swim through an underwater museum to a joyous dance at a futuristic concert, from the eco-friendly aftermath of an alien invasion and retreat to the refurbishing of an old climate-ravaged home in New Vancouver, these fourteen short sci-fi stories will to restore your faith in the future. A world transformed is a world we can all hope for. Book three in the Writers Save the World short story anthologies. If you enjoy this book, check out Fix the World and Save the World.
Word Count: 73000
Summary: Perry's mother told him he'd develop the superpower of flight, like his grandfather. She even named him Peregrine, so folks would call him "The Falcon." Spoiler— they don't. Because when he did come into his power, all he got was the ability to change colors. Not even himself, like some kind of Chameleon Man, but the color of objects. He can de-pukify the shade of his bedroom curtains, turn a bully's sweatshirt pink, or even turn a red traffic light green. (Not a good idea.) He hasn't told anyone except his disappointed mom about his power. What would they call him? The Interior Decorator? Back in high school, under stress, he did convince his power that transparent was just another color. Now that ability's sometimes fun in an illicit way. Then one morning, in the mailroom at work, he turns a cardboard box transparent and sees a bomb inside. And Perry's ordinary life explodes. Sergeant Deckard of the Nova City Bomb Squad never thought much about superheroes, or supervillains for that matter. He has plenty of work with ordinary humans and their explosives. Until he and his bomb-sniffing dog, Nix, get called to a possible-explosives situation in a highrise mailroom. The guy who reported the bomb is a nerdy twink in dark-framed glasses who pushes all of Deck's buttons. When he finds out the young man has a weird superpower and may be the target of a villain, every protective instinct comes into play. Deckard's goal is to keep his job, his dog, Nova City, and Perry intact. His libido can just sit down, shut up, and take a number. But as their attraction gets hotter and the villain closes in, their future might be blown apart before it even has a chance to start. Transparent Is a Color is a part of the multi-author Subpar Superheroes MM romance series. (Content warning for abduction, parental emotional abuse)
Word Count: 54000
Summary: Silas Thornwood's worst nightmare has come to life. Darien's familiar Pip is gravely injured, and Darien and Jasper have been kidnapped. Someone ruthless and violent is holding the man Silas loves prisoner, for purposes he doesn't want to imagine. Silas needs help from his friends to locate and rescue Darien. And when he does, those responsible― whether sorcerer, human, or demon― are going to be truly, utterly sorry…
Word Count: 8000
Summary: Tucker has spent his entire life as an interstellar trash man. But ever since his mother died, he’s been alone, and certainly lonely. So when he discovers the derelict ship he scooped up has an occupant—a beautiful young man named Ronan—Tucker is thrilled. Ronan is royalty and running from his tyrannical mother, determined to keep a powerful object out of her hands. But when he strikes a deal with the adorable Tucker, he wonders if it’s time to stop running.
Word Count: 62000
Summary: Alan Beringer has settled into his role of human Elite inspector working with Pyrean Navy privateers. Is it stressful being the principle investigator into a dangerous and hitherto unknown pirate confederacy? Certainly. Is it kind of fun living amid the exuberant and free-spirited crew of the Swallow? Most definitely. Accidental kidnapping aside, Alan has come to think of the Swallow as his home and the crew his family — and it’s obvious to everyone except Alan exactly how infatuated the captain, Sven Jiordson, is with him. But right now, if Alan wants to survive (much less keep his job), he’ll need to determine how deep this conspiracy goes, its connection to a tragedy from thirty years prior, and what exactly his pyrean and human superiors plan on doing once he cracks this case. And if he can finally recognize flirting when he sees it? So much the better! Pasts Revisited is the second book in the Triple Strike series, and it includes seven illustrations plus additional bonus content and comics.
Word Count: 54000
Summary: Alan Beringer’s day takes an unexpected turn when he’s kidnapped by alien space pirates. In all fairness, pyrean space pirates claiming they're "privateers” has become the norm since humans became an interstellar species. Pirates aren’t the problem. The problem is Alan's job is to curtail space piracy. The problem is Alan may be more pyrean than he lets on. The problem is the alien space pirate captain, Sven Jiordson, has a growing infatuation with Alan. The problem is Alan kind of enjoys being kidnapped. But who has time for romance when there's a new, unknown threat to interstellar space travel? Kidnapping aside, Alan needs to do what he does best: use his brilliant detective skills to notice everything…except Sven flirting with him. As the pyreans say — romance is more fun when somebody’s alive to enjoy it! Threads of Fate is the first book in the Triple Strike series, and it includes seven illustrations plus additional bonus content and comics.
Word Count: 31600
Summary: Can love last when one won’t leave, and the other can’t stay? Fear of moving farther away from his family had cost Eer the love of his life, but now, after twenty-five turns, Kat has returned…with a son, and Eer’s feelings resurface as if it had been only yesterday since they’d first kissed. But any hope Eer has of rekindling their love seems doomed to fail when a murderer’s taste for revenge forces Kat to choose between endangering their family or running… and leaving Eer behind, again. ___________________________ wordcount: 31,600 words TALES OF THE FOREST is an ongoing series of standalone stories linked by a forest world. Content warnings are available in the book's front matter and on the author's website.
Word Count: 111000
Summary: Now a Free novel in ebook: For a hidden shifter, falling in love with a man may be the death of them both. Simon Conley knows about being an outcast. Born into a secret werewolf pack, he’s the lone gay wolf, an outsider even among his packmates. The top wolves consider him a perversion, a failure, and a security risk. To survive in the human world, werewolves rely on absolute secrecy, and any breaches of their code are dealt with swiftly— and violently. So when Simon falls in love with Paul, a human man, even his Alpha's grudging tolerance won't protect him. He must keep Paul from discovering the truth about him and the secrets the pack jealously guards, or it’s not just their love that’ll end up dead. (rereleased Jan 2021 with light editing and the 1.15 short story included)
Word Count: 35454
Summary: A poltergeist haunts Taro, dogging his international travels. It washes glasses, puts dishes away, and even dusts. At least he hopes it's a cleaning-obsessed poltergeist and not his own anxieties burbling over into neat freak fits he doesn't remember. When his property manager suggests he call paranormal expert, Jack Montrose, Taro's skeptical but desperate enough to try even a ghost hunter. Jack's arrival crushes Taro's hopes of a dashing Van Helsing-style hero. Instead of an invincible hunter, he gets Ichabod Crane. As the paranormal puzzles multiply and Jack begins to suggest the entity might not be a ghostly one, Taro adds a budding friendship with Jack to his pile of anxieties. It's a race to see whether Taro's poltergeist or his relationship with the obviously-not-ace Jack will reach maximum strangeness first.
Word Count: 120000
Summary: Some bonds are strong enough to last a lifetime, and change the world. Rory O'Sullivan has spent his life alone. Once upon a time, he made one real human connection as a gay man. That moment happened in Nazi captivity, and the wolf he escaped with was a Soviet soldier. They had a taste of what love might mean, but in 1944, personal happiness had to come second to survival. Now, seventy years later, when he feels the presence of Nikolai, somehow close and needing him after all that time, no one— not gay Alpha Aaron of the Minneapolis West pack, or rising political threats, or even top Alpha Rick Brown himself— will stop him. Rory's going to answer the appeal he's waited a lifetime for. Some bonds can't be denied. This is a new novel in the Hidden Wolves series.
Word Count: 100000
Summary: He'd rather fight enemy wolves and rogue humans than face his own heart. When Aaron took down a violent, power-crazed wolf and inherited half a pack, he knew being Alpha wasn't going to be easy. A week later, he's finding out what an understatement that was. Other werewolves are calling for the extermination of his pack's gay wolf, or for Aaron's own death, and the risk of exposure to humans is growing. Aaron can't afford to let his long-suppressed sexuality escape his rigid control. When one of his younger wolves is in trouble, it's simply Aaron's job as Alpha to help and protect him. But keeping a cool distance from a young man who appeals to all his senses could be Aaron's toughest challenge. (This is a rerelease of the 2012 original with light editing. Content warning for substance abuse, some violence.)
Word Count: 135000
Summary: His pack would've killed him for his kinks and desires, but his human lover might destroy his wolf. Brandt Davis loved being part of his Michigan werewolf pack, until they found his stash of gay porn. He escaped their anger, running in wolf-form into the wilderness, but he can’t live that way forever. And he can’t hide in fur like a coward when an injured man needs his help. Ethan Sjulstad knows life is making him crazy when a solo hike into the Minnesota Boundary Waters seems reasonable. Then a bad fall leaves him seriously hurt and facing death. Delirious, he hallucinates being rescued by a big gray wolf and a naked woodland godling. For a man who has always loved fantasy, it's worth surviving just to find out what the hell is going on. (This is a lightly edited rerelease of the 2014 original.)
Word Count: 37000
Summary: He'll get by with a little help from his mate. When Paul's long-buried past reaches out for him, having Simon at his back should make all the difference. The shy, studious teen who ditched his hometown is now a grown man with a good life, an honorable profession, and a werewolf boyfriend. So why is still so hard to go home? A new 37,000 word novella in the same time frame as book 6 in the Hidden Wolves series brings challenges, pain, love, and their HEA for our favorite guys. Content warning for assisted suicide.
Word Count: 120000
Summary: Nothing wrecks a guy's day like finding out he's a werewolf. From the moment artist Dylan Shore arrives in Chicago, his life gets twisted like a kaleidoscope. Why does a street gang he's never met before want him dead? Why is a hot but odd mathematician stalking him? And how can half the things Alex Corwin says possibly be true, no matter how honest he seems? Alex has a frightening dilemma. Dylan is attractive, appealing, out and proud. He's also completely unaware that he's a werewolf. It shouldn't be Alex's job to tell him, and warn him that gay wolves usually end up dead. But someone has to, before he finds out in blood and violence. Chicago's not Alex's hometown, but somehow he needs to protect Dylan from the local packs, protect the wolves from being outed by Dylan, and keep his cool around the first man to touch his own deeply-closeted heart. (This is a lightly edited rerelease of the 2016 original.)
Word Count: 55000
Summary: In Unsafe Words, the first full-length collection of her edgy, award-winning short stories, Loren Rhoads punctures the boundaries between horror, dark fantasy, and science fiction in a maelstrom of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Ghosts, succubi, naiads, vampires, the Wild Hunt, and the worst predator in the woods stalk these pages, alongside human monsters who follow their cravings past sanity or sense. Featuring an introduction by Lisa Morton and cover art by Lynne Hansen, these never-before-collected stories come from the magazines Cemetery Dance, Space & Time, City Slab, and Instant City, the Wily Writers podcast, and from the books Sins of the Sirens, Demon Lovers, The Haunted Mansion Project: Year Two, Tales for the Camp Fire, and more. One story, “With You By My Side It Should Be Fine,” is original to the collection.
Word Count: 72000
Summary: Twenty years before Simon found Paul, a decade before Aaron joined the Minneapolis West pack, there were other gay wolves living hidden lives. Sawyer Holt thought he was dead at the age of sixteen when his brother Leon caught him kissing a human man. Dragged up in front of his Alpha, he could only hope for a painless end, especially when Rick Brown stared at him with an icy gaze and said to Leon, “I’ll take care of it.” Except what Rick gave Sawyer wasn’t death, but a new concealed life. In Minot, North Dakota, Sawyer has spent fourteen years isolated among humans, carving out a future for himself. Until a messenger arrives from Rick, saying that Leon has discovered the ruse, and it’s time to run again. Sawyer’s furious about losing his hard-won life, but intrigued by the young man carrying the message. James Ferguson doesn’t appreciate being sent from his home and pack in Virginia to run errands for the Chicago Alpha, but as Twelfth out of twelve adult wolves, he’s in no position to complain. He figures he’ll deliver the message and package, and hurry home for Thanksgiving. But a snowstorm, and the huge, muscular, confusing werewolf who rescues him, upend his plans. Soon, James’s whole world changes, and the only future he may have depends on whether he and Sawyer can survive being hunted, together. Unseen Past is a prequel novel set in the world of the Hidden Wolves, twenty years before Book 1.
Word Count: 11000
Summary: *This story is included in the new 2021 edition of Unacceptable Risk but kept available for those who have the old edition A free short-story epilogue that contains spoilers for Unacceptable Risk - Hidden Wolves book 1 Paul Hunter just spent two days as a captive to werewolves, his life hanging in the balance, a witness to crimes and craziness. Now he's back in his regular life, and living with Simon, the man he's been falling for. And he's part of a werewolf pack. He needs his brain to somehow catch up with all of that. Simon thought saving his human mate from his own pack would be the hardest thing he'd face with Paul, but he's beginning to realize that was just the beginning. He has to figure out how their future will work, and convince his skittish lover that staying with the pack is better than leaving it, while hints of threats to Paul's safety keep him awake at night. Fortunately Simon is up for the challenge.
Word Count: 63220
Summary: Alan Stewart, First Lieutenant on the space ship Qatar, and Captain Robin Lang of the Huan Police Force, have been best friends since their days in the Space Academy, despite the fact that Stewart is homosexual and Lang has a wife and son, Max. However Max is growing up and their friendship is threatened when Lang believes Stewart has designs on his son. When Max, now an adult and a recent recruit to the Qatar, is assaulted in a gay bar, Lang accuses Stewart. In an attempt to protect his son at all costs, Lang finds himself drawn into a dark conspiracy of murder and blackmail. Meanwhile, Stewart has his own battles to fight. Apart from defending himself against Lang’s accusations, he discovers the young man he is falling in love with, Michael Banner, is the one man on the ship who is out of bounds, untouchable. Lives and love hang in the balance as Lang and Stewart search for the truth.
