Paperbacks

Im Dorf heißt es, Naomi Teedle wäre eine Hexe. Alle gehen ihr aus dem Weg. Außer natürlich, wenn sie ihre Heilkräuter brauchen. Naomi lebt allein am Ortsrand von Merrychurch. Da sie keine sehr liebenswerte Zeitgenossin ist, hat damit niemand ein Problem. Aber dann wird ihre Leiche gefunden - den Mund vollgestopft mit ihren eigenen Heilkräutern - und plötzlich hat niemand mehr ein böses Wort über sie zu sagen.

Jonathon de Mountford gewöhnt sich langsam an das Leben in dem großen Herrenhaus, das er von seinem Onkel geerbt hat. Und es ist kein einsames Leben: Dafür sorgt Mike Tattersall, der Besitzer des örtlichen Pubs. Jonathon ist über den Mord entsetzt, wundert sich aber auch über den plötzlichen Meinungsumschwung der Dorfbewohner. Hatte niemand im Dorf einen Grund, Naomi Teedle den Tod zu wünschen? Er und Mike beschließen, die Sache nicht einfach auf sich beruhen zu lassen, sondern stattdessen der örtlichen Polizei bei den Ermittlungen zu helfen. Das Problem ist nur, dass ihre „Hilfe“ mehr als nur einen Verdächtigen zutage fördert. Und je länger sie ermitteln, umso länger wird die Liste …

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Hilliard Bauman’s life and his law practice are in Ohio, so when he inherits a home in California, his first instinct is to sell. Then again, his law partner is also his ex-partner, so maybe starting over wouldn’t be so bad. Either way, he needs someone to fix up the house first. That’s where Brian Mayer comes in.

Brian Mayer will do whatever work he can get, whether that means dog walking or painting fences. But in a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone, finding jobs can be difficult—especially if you’ve been wrongly convicted of theft. When Hilliard hires him to fix up his great-aunt’s place, it’s a relief on Brian’s strained bank account… but tests Brian’s heart to its limits.

As Hilliard digs into Brian’s case and the botched investigation of the original crime, things really start heating up—both between him and Brian and in what should’ve been a cold case. This time when cops try to lay the blame at Brian’s feet, he has Hilliard in his corner. Can they solve the mystery, put Brian’s past to rest, and find a new beginning together?

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Fall in love this holiday season with Holiday Cheer, a delightful collection of romantic Christmas tales from bestselling authors Amy Lane and Andrew Grey. From snow-filled streets to cozy fireside moments, these charming romcoms bring warmth, laughter, and love to the most wonderful time of the year.

Whether it’s a chance meeting under the mistletoe, the magic of an unexpected holiday getaway, or a second chance at true love, these heartfelt stories capture the joy of the season. With plenty of festive cheer, witty banter, and swoon-worthy moments, Holiday Cheer is the perfect holiday treat for anyone who believes in the power of love and a Christmas miracle.

Grab a cup of cocoa, cuddle up, and let the romance of the holidays begin!

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Milo Tanaka was not recovering from the mother of all breakups when his best friend barged into his home and gave him a dog. While Julia the dog doesn’t like squirrels, cats, turkeys, other dogs, or most humans, at least she gets him out of bed.

When a tiny blond dog rockets out of nowhere to bark ferociously at Garth Potter’s enormous Daniff, "the Chad," Garth is annoyed, but Chad simply woofs in Julia’s  face. But when Garth looks around for her irresponsible owner, he finds a fey panicky disaster desperately trying to keep his dog from getting eaten, and realizes Milo is simply new to dog ownership, not neglectful or cruel.

In fact, Milo is a truly decent guy, and he and his best friend have been struggling to find their footing in adulthood and relationships. As Garth befriends Milo and the irascible Julia, he finds himself entangled in Milo’s broken heart and fractured life. As much as Garth wants to fix it, he knows that Milo has to fix it himself. With the holidays approaching, Milo realizes that a good relationship won’t leave him isolated and afraid, but surrounded with friends, and that the key to thriving isn’t just chasing the turkeys out of his life—it’s letting a good man in. 

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Eine weitere Reihe falscher Entscheidungen führt dazu, dass Parker Levin wieder bei seiner Mutter wohnt und in ihrem Café aushilft. Er fühlt sich wie ein kompletter Versager. Dann erfährt er, dass sein ehemaliger Freund Selbstmord begangen haben soll, was die Sache nur noch schlimmer macht. Er hat nicht mehr viel zu verlieren, als er in dem Café einen attraktiven Mann kennenlernt.

Wes Anker hat vor zehn Jahren einen schweren Fehler gemacht. Seither lebt er zurückgezogen und hat kaum noch Kontakt zu anderen Menschen. Seinen Lebensunterhalt verdient er als Möbelschreiner. Als er zufällig einen faszinierenden jungen Mann - Parker - kennenlernt, lässt er sich überreden, ihm zu helfen. Vielleicht kann er seinen einstigen Fehler so wiedergutmachen.

Sie freunden sich schnell an und fühlen sich zueinander hingezogen. Aber Wes wird immer noch von den Dämonen der Vergangenheit gejagt und Parker stolpert ohne Plan und Ziel durchs Leben. Dann finden sie heraus, dass der Tod von Parkers Ex vielleicht gar kein Selbstmord war, stoßen aber immer wieder auf Hindernisse, und überall lauert Gefahr. Ihr Weg führt ins Unbekannte. Führt er sie auch zu wahrer Liebe?

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Branden loves his college roommate. He’s a strong, serious African—and as overpoweringly gorgeous as a marble statue. He even has a statue’s name: Taharqa, the Black Pharaoh who ruled Egypt and Nubia in Old Testament times. But he’s just Archie to Branden.

When Branden learns the secret that has brought Taharqa to the States, nothing can keep him from joining in the plan to bring needed material to modern technology. But there are forces seeking to uncover their efforts and take the glory for themselves. Their teamwork—and their love—are put to the test at every turn.

Taharqa loves Branden. He’s a joyous wrestler jock and a brilliant classmate. Unfortunately, Taharqa has a task—a world-important stratagem—and he doesn’t want to expose Brand to the perils shadowing his efforts and endangering his secret, ancient people. Complicating things further is a mythic challenge meant to change Taharqa from human to god.

Love overcomes caution as the risks increase. From the States to Sudan, sailing the River Nile, and battling multiple kidnappers across Rome, they confront the dark forces moving in. Will Taharqa’s powers and his love be enough to rescue Brand and save the secret of Nubia and his hidden home?

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Val Royal’s tight family has always had his back, but they love to interfere in his life. That interference almost sends him over the edge when they arrange for Rory McCauley, security specialist, marksman, and hound-dog smartass, to ride shotgun as security on his latest run.

Hot, bossy, and sharp as a tack, Val ticks all Rory’s boxes, but Val’s looking for something real, and Rory’s allergic to intimacy. Besides, their gig running refrigerated bull semen from Bakersfield to Austin could make or break Val’s buddy’s ranch, so Val’s understandably pretty focused on the job. Rory still wishes Val would let him help Val, uh, ***relax.***

As Val and Rory work to keep their payload safe from a couple of determined saboteurs and they get to know each other as smart, competent, fearless professionals, sparks fly, and Val starts to fall for Rory’s roguish charm. But can he convince Rory their romance would be worth more than a straight shot to Austin—that it would be a love worth coming home to?

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Cliff Anderson hopes to build on the legacy of his late parents, but that dream seems lost when his California homestead is lost to a wildfire. Devastated, he travels to Oregon to stay with his aunt and uncle on their dairy operation while he makes plans for his future.

College professor Brandon Forest has always yearned for a family and a home of his own. Maybe that’s why, despite being busy with his job and his side gig as a fantasy author, he’s stayed on as a seasonal worker at the dairy farm. The farm feels so welcoming, and working on their dairy farm might be the next step in building the life he’s dreamed of.

Then he meets Cliff.

As Cliff and Brandon confront their own broken pasts, they build a connection that runs deep. Laughter and shared experiences prove to be strong medicine for the wounds life has inflicted on them.

Cliff hasn’t let go of his past or the hopes he had for the farm in California. Will his future burn down as he holds on to lost hopes, or can he blaze a new path with Brandon?

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Life hasn’t been easy for honky-tonk guitarist Guthrie Woodson, but he’s practiced at enduring the bad times and treasuring the good. He’s been in love before, and while the guy just got married, Guthrie figures that now that he knows what love is, he’ll recognize it if it comes his way again.

Which makes his attraction to Tad Hawkins, the Sacramento cop who has been showing up to Guthrie’s weekend gigs, all the more dangerous.

Tad’s had troubles of his own, but he’s always felt loved. Trying to coax Guthrie, his snakebit guitarist, into his arms is an exercise in patience, but Tad has experience with that. His sister, April, is in addiction recovery. He can take it slow if it means he’ll get to keep some “Guthrie goodness” for himself.

But then Tad has an accident and Guthrie's forced to take actions that leave his vulnerable heart exposed. Tad must fast-track his plans to gentle Guthrie in his life, and Guthrie needs to clear out the history holding him back. Can they forge a solid future on the shifting sands of fortune, or will Guthrie’s past and Tad’s present break them apart before they have a chance?

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Solitary photojournalist Philip Conyers is out of money and out of time.

One year after pausing his work chasing stories across the globe to buy and fix up his dream house, a series of events has him flat broke, creatively clogged, and out of options. Philip must sell—and then is stuck as months pass without any offers.

Enter tech millionaire Zak Springer. He needs space and quiet away from New York City to think up the next big idea, and Philip’s upstate place is the perfect retreat. He wants to rent it for six months, price is no object, and oh yeah, Philip is welcome to stay. What can Philip do but agree?

Living with easygoing Zak proves interesting for Philip, a dedicated loner. Despite their different circumstances, Zak understands him in a way no one ever has, and the attraction that simmers between them is undeniable. With their days together numbered, Philip decides it’s safe to indulge in a fling—until he realizes he never wants this life in his dream house with his dream man to end. Can Philip open his heart as well as his home, or is he doomed to lose them both?

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Viscount Collin Northington has spent his life under his father’s thumb. When his friend George and his cowboy husband, Alan, offer to let him tag along to the US for two weeks, Collin jumps at the chance to get away. Perhaps the open ranges of Wyoming will put his problems into perspective. He even dreams of meeting a cowboy of his own.

He doesn’t expect his dreams to come true.

When Tank Rogers returned home after his military service, he took over the family ranch the way he knew he was meant to. Now he’s the only one left, but he likes the solitude. Even so, he has no excuse to object to putting up Alan’s friend for a few weeks in exchange for some help around the ranch—it wouldn’t be neighborly.

The feelings he has for his blue-blooded houseguest aren’t exactly neighborly either.
Once Tank realizes there’s more to Collin than upper-crust manners, suddenly his solitary life holds a lot less appeal. But in the long term, Tank doesn’t fit into Collin’s fancy society life any more than Collin fits into Tank’s down-home and dusty ranch… does he?

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Daniel Greene’s life is dance. What it is not? Really anything outside of that. He certainly doesn’t know how to hobnob with rich people or play bartender for their rich private parties, so when his best friend guilts him into doing exactly that, it ought to end in disaster. Instead, it ends with him pressed against a bathroom wall while a hot lawyer kisses his grand jeté-ing brains out.

Aaron Silva is the swooniest. He’s gorgeous, he drips in romance, and the sex is transcendent. So what if he would rather be Daniel’s dream man than talk about work? Being an attorney must be tiring. All those late nights. All those needy clients.

It’s not until Daniel enlists Aaron’s help with some legalese that he stumbles into a bit of a quagmire:

Aaron isn’t a lawyer as Daniel originally assumed. He’s a high-end escort.

Suddenly the clouds Daniel was dancing on get awfully stormy. He can’t compete with other men—richer men—and why should he have to? This changes everything. Well, everything except the way they feel about each other. Can he and Aaron find their way to a happy-ever-after that’s not just another happy ending?

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Amy Lane’s Fish Out of Water universe has expanded to include garage mechanics, assassins, nurses, psychics, and adult film stars. Many of them forged a safe, hidden haven in Victoriana--the middle of the desert.

This collection of shorts revolves mostly around the Victoriana crew—the desert Fish, a group of people with specialized skills, a strong moral code, and an aversion to the rules. Join Burton, Ernie, Ace, Sonny, Jai, and George as they deal with impossible storms, visiting assassins, and—oh yeah—the in-laws, in this series of novellas that shows that being a Fish in the desert isn’t always easy, but a desert fish can always find a home.

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They say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but when Lewis wakes up married after a wild, drunken night at his best friend’s bachelorette party, he’s worried he’s affected the rest of his life. Tad might be sweet, drop-dead gorgeous, and so easy to be with, but the obvious solution is a speedy divorce. The fact that they both live in New York City should make the process easy… so why is it taking them so long to sign the papers? Or even take off their rings? And why do they keep ending up in bed?

Tad’s anxiety and fear of coming out to his family has driven guys away before. Can he dare to believe Lewis is different? Lewis, his friends, and his loud, loving Italian family support Tad in a way he’s never experienced, and it’s easy to imagine a lifetime of that unconditional love. But life isn’t a romcom…

Or is it?

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When Garvin Haverton lost his husband, he lost himself. Unable to bear the reminders of their love, he left his friends in Los Angeles for the remote Alaskan wilderness, cut ties with his old life, and started over.

Model William Moreau has let Garvin hide for long enough. He misses his friendship, and he has to know if the spark he felt between them could ignite the love of a lifetime. So he packs a bag, books a flight, rents a car… and almost gets himself killed in a blizzard.

When William shows up half-frozen, Garvin is furious. Unlike William, he doesn’t need to be rescued. He has a life in Alaska: new friends, a dog, a job. But he can’t kick William out into the cold, and it doesn’t take many long, cold Alaskan nights before he realizes that he may have a life, but he hasn’t moved on. He could do that with William. The chemistry between them could heat his little cabin all on its own. But William’s life is in LA, and Garvin can’t go back. Is their unlooked-for romance doomed from the start?

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Private investigator Ben Ames is supposed to be on vacation. He’s followed his rock star boyfriend, Jesse, to the Edmonton Folk Festival, where Jess is doing an acoustic set with friends and having a boozy sulk about his changing image. 

Neither is there to solve a crime, but they’re offered a case anyway when the festival headliner hires them to help his author friend Charlie.

Charlie’s latest manuscript is missing. A normal guy would have backups, but Charlie’s an internet-hating conspiracy theorist who saved his work to a laptop flash drive, and now the drive and the computer are gone. Ben thinks the case is impossible, but Jess could use a distraction, so they pay a visit to Charlie’s river-valley home—where Charlie tells them he knows who took the book, he’s not telling, and a detective can’t help. Good day. 

They’re still in Edmonton, enjoying a lazy summer day, when word comes that Charlie’s been murdered. Back on the case and without suspects or a motive, Ben knows the answers are in that missing book. He just needs to do the impossible and find it….

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Klein, aber oho – das könnte Detective Nevin Ngs Motto sein. Auch ein harter Start ins Leben hat ihn nicht davon abhalten können, jetzt beim Portland Police Bureau seine Pflicht zu erfüllen und für seine Mitmenschen da zu sein, wann immer sie ihn brauchen. Er lässt sich nichts gefallen und ist nicht an einer Beziehung interessiert. Bis er zu einem alten Herrn gerufen wird, der von Unbekannten zusammengeschlagen wurde. Und Nevin dort den reichen und etwas steifen Vermieter des Opfers kennenlernt.

Der Bauunternehmer und Immobilienmanager Colin Westwood ist mit all dem aufgewachsen, wovon Nevin nie zu träumen gewagt hätte – Geld im Überfluss und einer Familie, die ihn liebt und unterstützt. Vielleicht sogar etwas zu viel, denn Colin litt als Kind an einer schweren Krankheit und seine Familie hat immer noch nicht begriffen, dass er mittlerweile ein erwachsener Mann ist, der sich um sich selbst kümmern kann. Colin ist sehr wohl an einer Beziehung interessiert, aber bisher ist daraus nie etwas geworden. Deshalb hat er beschlossen, sich in Zukunft vielleicht mit dem zufriedenzugeben, was ihm über den Weg läuft. Weniger Erwartungen, aber dafür mehr Aufregung. Bis er Zeuge eines – oder sogar mehrerer – fürchterlichen Verbrechen wird. Darauf war er nicht vorbereitet gewesen.

Obwohl sie unterschiedlicher nicht sein könnten, fliegen die Funken, wann immer Colin und Nevin sich begegnen. Aber Funken haben keine lange Lebenserwartung, vor allem nicht angesichts der wenigen Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen den beiden Männern und der immer brutaleren Machenschaften, mit denen sie konfrontiert werden. Die Frage ist, ob sie das Herz und die Kraft haben, diese Funken dauerhaft zum Leuchten zu bringen.

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As a young gay man growing up in southwest Victoria, Nick Williams leads a charmed life. Life on the family farm gives him a sense of purpose. His supportive parents are loving and affectionate. And his best friend Aaron is always around to help him get out of trouble. But when his father dies a few days before Nick’s eighteenth birthday, it changes the course of Nick’s life.

From rural Australia to India, Nick builds a life as a successful businessman only to watch it crumble in a way he never thought possible. Running from betrayal and heartbreak, Nick returns to the land and people who know him best, but sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to be able to see what was in front of you all along.  

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