Six years ago, Jasper Des Moines traded in the only life he knew. In order to keep a promise and a secret, he walked from the only man he’d ever loved. Now, he has a career in need of constant defending, a best friend who knows nothing about his past, and a husband he should love. He has the life he believes he deserves. Until one day, the unfinished business he left behind catches up with him, and he’s faced with the one man he’d never been able to resist or forget.

Romeo and I were friends long before we were lovers. Best friends. Ride or die. What started as an innocent kiss slowly unraveled and shattered, giving way to years of tears and total obsession. Now I’m back in the small town I call home, staring straight into the face of the only man I’ve ever loved…or hated. To make matters worse, his wife stands at his side, smiling sweetly as my heart breaks all over again. When life throws us back together, cracks quickly start to appear in the perfect façade of their marriage, and I’m left fighting the unstoppable force that is my attraction to Romeo.

I’m the first one to tell you I have issues. Trust issues. Family issues. Probably a few others I haven’t discovered yet. Which is why I prefer to keep my life as simple and uncomplicated as possible. Until him. Blake McAdams barrels into my life and refuses to leave. He’s relentlessly optimistic, sexy as hell, annoyingly persistent, and…wants to be friends? Because…he thinks I’m interesting? Yeah, I’ll pass. Thanks. Only, somehow, we end up doing just that.

The weight of the legacy I carry is a constant tug in my mind, with the ghosts of the generations before me always whispering for me to push harder, train longer, be better. In the eight seconds I have to ride, everything else falls away, and my sole focus is on doing what I do best. I am Shooter Graham, consecutive three-time world champion bronc rider. No one has ever come close to taking the title since I've had it… until him. Sterling Addams. The new cowboy in town with dark hair, eyes like honey, and a taste for me he likes to pretend he doesn't have.

I always thought of Silas Rush as my biggest rival on the track and a stuck-up loner off of it. He and his fancy pro career left our crappy hometown in the dust before high school even finished, and then I didn't think of him much at all. I was too busy trying to keep my little sisters from turning into addicts like our mom, and myself from turning into a rage-junkie like our dad. All while keeping food on the table. Now he's back, reminding me of all the things I don't have, just like he always did.

A legal technicality might be the reason I’m out of prison after serving only two years of what should have been multiple life sentences, but all I care about now is finding the man who put me behind bars in the first place. JJ Ferguson needs to see firsthand what his lies have turned me into. Two years ago, JJ and I should have been talking about our future together. Our lives had changed that night, just not in the way they should have.

For almost a decade, I've been the secret pen pal of a convict—my best friend's father. All I wanted was to help bridge the gap between father and son. But the innocent act soon turns into more. Through our letters, I am able to be the brave, confident guy I am in fact, not. So what if I fibbed a little when I sent him a false photograph of me? And reinvented myself in those letters? After all, what's the harm when Griff will never be released from prison?

I thought I had everything figured out—until I met Jaxon. I'm dominant by nature, but Jaxon brings all that out in full force. What started as a one-night stand after his confession that he's never been with a man quickly turns into a whirlwind. Now, I want nothing more than to put my collar around his neck and ensure he's mine. Add in my best friend, Blaze, and his boyfriend, Elijah, and we're in for a hell of a ride. Blaze and I soon realize that someone has betrayed us when cops start breathing down our necks. All of this makes it hard to navigate what the four of us have started.

He makes me lose all control. Ex-Special Forces and current CEO of Sinro Enterprises, I sacrifice my personal life and health to lead mercenary teams dedicated to wiping out high-profile criminals. My working hours are endless. My schedule is rigid. I leave no room for normal things like relationships. Until a pretty little thief breaks into my high-rise and shatters what I'd come to believe was peace. I find myself hesitating to pull the trigger for the first time.

My relationship with twins Damon and Declan has always been close. Too close, according to what society has deemed appropriate between guy friends. But that's never stopped our hugging and cuddling—in public or private. My best friends knew I didn't receive affection from home, so they never let me go without it.

Caspien Deveraux was poison. It took me years to realise that he hadn't been born like that. He'd been cultivated and nurtured by a careful hand and a bitter heart. When I first met him, he was a bud. One primed to bloom beautifully and deadly. One I should have torn out at the root.

After giving twelve years of my life to the service, I didn't just lose my leg. I lost everything, including my career. When the dust settled, the only person still standing by my side in the rubble was Brandt—the single lifeline I had left to a world I didn't want to live in anymore. With painstaking care, he healed my body and my mind. When he eventually started healing my heart, I realized I didn't just need him in my life, I needed him in ways I'd never wanted him before.

Before he shares it with the world, he's determined to build the confidence he wants to live life as a gay man and the experience hell need to snag Mr. Right. For that, he requires a mentor--someone experienced. Someone with manners. Someone discreet enough to be able to mix business with pleasure under the watchful eye of his fathers empire--a gentleman. Pete Carver is without a doubt that man.

Fifteen years ago, I helped put my abductor behind bars. With the help of my hypnotherapist, I’ve sealed away the memories of my traumatic past. Until the dreaded phone call. Duncan Whittaker’s out on parole. The first time I confront him, I intend to kill him. Then something snaps inside me. The memories I’ve been repressing have returned. Duncan Whittaker’s the only man who’s ever made me feel desire. He’s also the one who held me captive for almost a year.

There’s a lot I’ve never told my best friend. The fact that I love him. That I miss him every day he’s gone. That, sometimes, I ache for him with a ferocity that leaves me breathless. Lucky Buchanan tore into my life as a boy, wild and daring, my opposite in every way. He drew me in, stole my heart without trying. He hears me, even though I rarely speak a word. But I always knew this place wouldn’t be enough for my free-spirited friend. I knew he wasn’t mine to keep.

Living in a year around Christmas town has its drawbacks. The caroling, the decorations, the insanely cheery spirit, it never disappears. It's why I like to hibernate away in my cave - I mean housekeeping a healthy distance from the holly jolly spirits. And all was going according to plan until my nemesis, Storee Taylor, moved in next door to care for her Aunt Cindy. Without blinking, she turned my simple world into a real nightmare-before-Christmas, especially when she decided to enter the town Christmas Kringle contest - which she was determined to win.

When mystery author D. B. Ziegler is late delivering her book, Abi Schore steps in to help. Surely she can give her favorite author moral support over the holiday break and get the manuscript to her boss at Tea & Sympathy Publishing in time for the new year. When Abi shows up on Ms. Ziegler’s doorstep bearing holiday treats, she’s met by the author’s handsome grandson Dov, who reveals a startling plot twist. His grandmother isn’t able to finish the book and Dov promised he’d complete it so fans won’t be disappointed—a task that’s harder than he ever imagined.

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.

All newly minted pediatrician Jamie Malek wants is to borrow a roasting pan for Christmas dinner. Unfortunately, that requires her to interact with Marc—her best friend’s troublemaking brother, who’s now a tech billionaire. He’s the one who got away. She’s the one who broke his heart. Outside, a howling blizzard. Inside, a crackling fire. Suddenly, being snowbound with the man she never expected to see again might not be such a bad way to spend a winter’s night.

Five Years Earlier: Henry Dunne knows three things: that agreeing to host this raucous house party was a terrible idea, that he absolutely cannot show up to his nursing shift tomorrow with a hangover, and that the beautiful redhead in the corner will be sleeping in his bed tonight.

Evie Crowe is starting over in a strange town with her newborn, and men are the furthest thing from her mind. If only the quiet, hulking farmer, Luke Ward, would stop coming into the thrift shop and piquing her reluctant interest. Evie wants to stay single all the way—she can’t trust anything more than friends-with-holiday-benefits. But Luke is in it for the long haul. He’s fixed on making this a Christmas Evie will remember forever. If she gives him a chance.

Obituary writer Nadine Barbault doesn’t mind being called “Lady Death”. It suits the ice queen persona she’s cultivated to survive the fast-paced Toronto Herald. So when Nadine learns that famous (and reclusive) author Dot Voline has died, she doesn’t hesitate to run the obituary…only to discover that Dot is very much alive. Nadine’s screw-up has brought Wesley Chen of the rival Spear no end of joy—she’s been a thorn in his extremely ambitious side for years. But the renewed interest in Dot also surfaced chatter about a mysterious past scandal.

Tilly Farriday isn’t feeling very jolly this season. Recently divorced and broke, she’s squatting in one of her rental agency’s properties until her new home is ready. The sprinkles on top of the burnt Christmas cookie that is her life? The new owner shows up early, forcing Tilly to hide in the attic to save her job…and what remains of her dignity.

After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I'd find the cure for what ravaged her and leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I received an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it's rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before, those whose bones are said to make up the island's white sandy shores. And restless ghosts aren't even its most daunting peculiarity.

There's no place like home for the holidays ... especially for Lesley Carver. Life in the big city just wasn't her jam and now she's back in Hickory Falls, working at the family diner and helping her mom after she took a tumble. Lesley longs to build a life here, working at the cafe, selling her handmade ornaments and ... er, apparently reviving her high school crush on her best friend’s older brother. Only one problem, her mom wants her to leave Hickory Falls far behind.

Six years ago, Jasper Des Moines traded in the only life he knew. In order to keep a promise and a secret, he walked from the only man he’d ever loved. Now, he has a career in need of constant defending, a best friend who knows nothing about his past, and a husband he should love. He has the life he believes he deserves. Until one day, the unfinished business he left behind catches up with him, and he’s faced with the one man he’d never been able to resist or forget.

My relationship with twins Damon and Declan has always been close. Too close, according to what society has deemed appropriate between guy friends. But that's never stopped our hugging and cuddling—in public or private. My best friends knew I didn't receive affection from home, so they never let me go without it.

Day one of senior year at Denwin High was not supposed to end with my thoughts consumed by the new AP Philosophy teacher. I’d impatiently waited three years to take the course, but from the moment he strode in with his sad eyes that mirrored my own, I was intrigued by only him. Dr. Sebastian Wicked.

The day Clint sees his son, Joey, off to basic training, the young man he’s devoted his life to extracts one promise from him: spend the summer doing something selfish for a change. The request seems harmless enough until Joey puts his best friend, Raven, in charge of seeing it through.

The weight of the legacy I carry is a constant tug in my mind, with the ghosts of the generations before me always whispering for me to push harder, train longer, be better. In the eight seconds I have to ride, everything else falls away, and my sole focus is on doing what I do best. I am Shooter Graham, consecutive three-time world champion bronc rider. No one has ever come close to taking the title since I've had it… until him. Sterling Addams. The new cowboy in town with dark hair, eyes like honey, and a taste for me he likes to pretend he doesn't have.

Before he shares it with the world, he's determined to build the confidence he wants to live life as a gay man and the experience hell need to snag Mr. Right. For that, he requires a mentor--someone experienced. Someone with manners. Someone discreet enough to be able to mix business with pleasure under the watchful eye of his fathers empire--a gentleman. Pete Carver is without a doubt that man.

Will: Turning up on the first day of a job you desperately need to discover you’ve already slept with your billionaire boss? Yeah, that’s a bit of a conundrum. Learning he’s a closeted bisexual currently embroiled in a - by all accounts bogus - sexual harassment scandal? That’s more of a fiasco. But having to sit outside the office of one of the sexiest men alive, day in, day out, knowing there’s no chance of a repeat? That’s what I’d call a disaster.

Whisper doesn’t remember his real name. All he knows is the elite assassin guild that raised him—and controls him with the threat of blood magic. Plagued by nightmares, he doesn’t get to refuse assignments, even when his new job doesn’t make sense: infiltrate Prince Julien’s court, protect him until the signal arrives, then kill him.

Jaclyn Long. Beauty and brains. And the heart of my new obsession. She doesn't remember the first time we met. It's better that way. I mean, if you ask the media, or pretty much anyone at all, I'm not exactly "boyfriend material." More like the King of the A-holes according to Jaclyn. That's a direct quote. And if she knew who I was, there's no way she'd let me get close. Slide in, so to speak.

With their band on the brink of stardom, Johnny Gehrings is cast out by his stepmother and half-brothers because he’s not pretty enough for social media. He takes some solace when Zimri Hayes quits the band too—beautiful Zimri, who is Johnny’s secret heart’s desire. A job at a grocery store and a part-time music gig at a drag club pay the bills, but Johnny is still emotionally adrift, a wanderer abandoned in the forest. And when Zimri is offered a chance to make it big, Johnny fears that a devious manager will eat Zimri alive.

When Heath Manfred is left in a lurch after an acrimonious divorce, he turns to the Brotherhood for help with finding a nanny for his three-year-old daughter. But the last thing he expects is for the nanny who shows up to interview for the job to be a hunky man. Correction, the last thing he expects is for Aubrey to assume the nanny position is live-in…and for him to go along with that and have Aubrey move in.

For Maiden Voyage guitarist, Ryder Hampton, life is great. He and his bandmates are embarking upon an epic European double headlining tour with their friends from Social Sinners with the band Embrace the Fear opening for them. Since joining Maiden Voyage in his 20's, Ryder’s life has been a whirlwind of the cliched, “sex, drugs and monumental doses of rock ‘n roll". And he’s loved every minute of it from the sold out shows to the revolving door of bed partners.

Sometimes you meet someone and you just know they're going to mean something to you. That's what happened with Col Langdon. Sure, he's a cranky, uptight New Yorker who seems strangely immune to my serenading, but he's been living rent-free in my head since the night we met. I'm the king of casual. But with Col . . . it's different.

I'm really more of a "take it as it comes" sort of dude. But making minimum wage at a small-town sandwich shop wasn't exactly what I had in mind after college graduation either. It may not be an exciting life, but it isn't so bad. At least I have my amazing coworkers and friends who always try to make the workday fun. Everyone, that is, except the new guy, Simon.

Nearly getting killed in a mudslide only reminds me why I hate the mountains. I'm uninjured, but my car is wrecked, there's no way I can get into town, and there's no reception here. Maybe it's karma for putting this trip off. I haven't been able to bring myself to visit since Pa's funeral. And then there are the painful memories that still haunt me of my first love and heartbreak.