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A Long Con Adventure

Two and a half years ago, Michael Carmody made the biggest mistake of his life. Thanks to the Salinger crew, he has a second chance. Now he’s working as their mechanic and nursing a starry-eyed crush on the crew’s stoic suit, insurance investigator and spin doctor Carl Cox.

Carl has always been an almost-ran, so Michael’s crush baffles him. When it comes to the Salingers, he’s the designated wet blanket. But watching Michael forge the life he wants instead of the one he fell into inspires him. In Michael’s eyes, he isn’t an almost-ran—he just hasn’t found the right person to run with. And while the mechanic and the suit shouldn’t have much to talk about, suddenly they’re seeking out each other’s company.

Then the Salingers take a case from their past, and it’s all hands on deck. For once, behind-the-scenes guys Michael and Carl find themselves front and center. Between monster trucks, missing women, and murder birds, the case is a jigsaw puzzle with a lot of missing pieces—but confronting the unknown is a hell of a lot easier when they’re side by side.

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Kann ein kratzbürstiger Zimmermann einem Reality-TV Moderator einen Weg zum Coming Out bauen?

Immobilienguru Brandon Chase weiß, was „familienfreundlich” in der Branche bedeutet, nämlich nicht offen über seine Sexualität zu sein.

Das Aus von Brandons Ehe ist immer noch in den Schlagzeilen, als der Restoration Channel ihm ein Angebot macht: Er soll eine Serie über den Verkauf von Häusern auf dem riskanten Markt von New York City moderieren. Brandon, der immer noch unter der schlechten Presse leidet, zögert, sich darauf einzulassen – bis er sich in ein altes viktorianisches Haus verliebt.

Doch das Haus ist nicht das einzige, das ihm ins Auge fällt.

Der Bauauftragsnehmer Travis Rogers hat die Aufgabe, all die Dinge aufzulisten, die beim Umbau und der Renovierung eines Hauses schiefgehen können, was zu einer Menge Streitereien am Set und zu beiderseitigem Frust führt. Doch als die unter der Oberfläche schwelende Anziehungskraft zwischen den beiden Männern auflodert, stehen die Sendung und ihre Beziehung auf dem Spiel.

Travis hasst das Medieninteresse, das Brandon verfolgt und der Sender hat in der Vergangenheit immer wieder LGBTQ-Persönlichkeiten entlassen. Wie die Häuser, die Brandon zum Verkauf renoviert, hat auch diese Beziehung Potenzial. Aber wenn Brandon Travis nicht überzeugen kann, ein Risiko einzugehen, bleibt die Chemie zwischen ihnen wohl nur auf der Leinwand.

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Lions & Tigers & Bears: Book Two

As part of a military team, Crank needs to keep his head on straight. His unit depends on it. So the recurring sensual dreams he’s having—the ones featuring a shark shifter with dark brown hair and eyes—really screw with his focus. Especially since the shifter is a guy.

Greenland shark shifter Vic can’t stop thinking about Crank, a human military guy he met when Vic got called in for a consult. Crank seems handy with anything that flies, and Vic would be happy to have him at his back, in more ways than one. And that’s a problem—firstly because Vic’s in love with his boyfriend, Saul, but also because Crank is sarcastic, irreverent… and straight.

The problem comes to a head when Saul discovers Vic has been dreaming about a man who isn’t him. Saul does not share. But when Crank starts invading Saul’s dreams too, he has to reassess his feelings. His life may depend on it.

Exploring the growing connection between the three of them will have to wait, though. The upcoming mission demands the team’s full attention. They’re about to discover something huge, and they have badly underestimated the enemy…. 

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Fortsetzung zu Dirty Laundry
Ein Cole-McGinnis-Krimi

Sheila Pinelli muss unschädlich gemacht werden. Nie zuvor hätte der zum Privatdetektiv gewordene ehemalige Polizist Cole McGinnis daran gedacht, einen Mord zu begehen. Doch vor sechs Monaten, als Jae-Mins Blut über seine Hände rann und der Tod an die Tür seines Liebsten klopfte, wurde die Ermordung von Sheila Pinelli deutlich weniger abwegig.

Während sich Sheila in einem verborgenen Winkel von Los Angeles versteckt, teilen Jae und Cole ein Bett, ein Haus und vor allem ihr Glück. Dass Jae von seiner traditionellen koreanischen Familie verstoßen wurde, hat ihre Beziehung überstanden und nun planen sie, sich ein neues Leben aufzubauen – vorzugsweise ohne die ständige Bedrohung durch Sheila im Hintergrund.

Obwohl die Polizei von Santa Monica Sheila nach einer Verhaftung irrtümlich auf freien Fuß setzt, hat Cole nun einen Hinweis auf ihren Aufenthaltsort. Bis die Spur ihn in ein verrücktes Netz aus Drogen, exotischen Frauen und Tod führt. Doch auch als alles schiefgeht, ist Cole entschlossen, die Frau zu finden, die er einst wie eine Schwester liebte, und sie endgültig aus ihrem Leben zu verbannen.

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Quand Jeff Pine loue un chalet dans sa ville natale, qu’il a évitée depuis quinze ans, il veut simplement du temps loin de son monde de rock’n’roll pour remettre sa vie à plat. À la place, il tombe sur son ancien meilleur ami – et l’inspiration pour des douzaines de chansons d’amour – dès le premier jour.

Quel idiot !

Le naturaliste du parc Carter Rhodes est une guimauve habillée comme un bûcheron. La célébrité et la fortune ne lui font pas tourner la tête, mais le petit nerd narquois qui le suivait partout étant enfant ? Le type qui le fait rire quand il est en deuil et se détendre quand il en fait trop ? Pas la rock star, mais Jeff ? Ce type a une chance.

Jeff a toujours su que Carter était tout pour lui, mais il fait face à une tournée avec les membres hostiles de son groupe, une échéance approchante pour un album, et des soupçons que leur label mijote quelque chose. Peut-il trouver le courage – et le temps – d’écrire une vraie chanson d’amour avec Carter ?

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There’s trouble brewing in the cold waters of Kildevil Cove, and this time Danny Quirke may be hard put to stop it.

Due to his suspected association with his former boss’s human trafficking organization, Danny has been demoted and is no longer in charge. To make matters worse, he’s broken up with his partner, Tadhg... who may be in serious hot water himself. But then a faceless killer begins targeting Kildevil Cove’s most vulnerable, and Danny can’t refuse when his new boss asks him to take the case.

When Danny pulls a hypothermic young woman out of a small boat in the middle of a blizzard, she whispers a cryptic phrase about a man with no face. But who is he? What is his connection to the murders? And how is Danny going to solve the mystery while he’s the subject of an investigation that could end his career?

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Florist to the stars Vin Robins is in high demand in LA, but he hates working for someone else. When he returns to his Pennsylvania home to help his widowed father, he finds an opportunity he never expected with his first love, but learns that someone’s been taking advantage of the unused family greenhouse.

Casey Lombard wasted too much of his life denying who he is and what he wants, but he won’t do that any longer. His biggest regret is letting Vin go, so running into Vin again when he gets called to investigate who planted pot on Vin’s family’s property sends him reeling.

Vin ignites feelings Casey thought long dead. But Casey has a daughter, and Vin is only home for a visit. Surely the bright lights of Hollywood will call him back to the City of Angels, so how can Vin and Casey build the life they both wish they had?

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Now that colonists Elias Trost and Tristan MacLeod have learned of the existence of another intelligent species on this planet, their life on New Skye has become even more perilous. Dresde, the ruthless wurl queen, has kidnapped Elias’s brother, Oscar, along with the egg of a rival queen.

Oscar Trost finds danger and privation under Dresde’s reign, but he isn’t alone. A small group of humans from the original colony ship, long lost from memory, live on the eastern continent as slaves to Dresde’s horrific whims. In order to survive, Oscar must find his courage and prove himself to these others while he awaits the rescue he is sure will come.

Elias and Tristan have to find Oscar and the egg, and fast. Every day their search becomes more desperate. But sprawling between them and Dresde’s lair is the untamed alien wilderness, teeming with threats from ground and sky. And in the vast ocean they must cross lies something else—something ancient that should not be disturbed….
 

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Carlisle Cops: Teil Drei

Seit dem Tod seiner Mutter hat Josten Applewhite alles in seiner Macht stehende getan, um sich um seinen kleinen Bruder zu kümmern und die Familie zusammenzuhalten. Aber mit einem Schlag verliert er das Zuhause, das er sich so hart erarbeitet hat, und Jos und Isaac landen auf der Straße.

Dort findet sie Officer Kip Rogers. Obwohl er weiß, dass eigentlich die Behörden für die Jungs zuständig sind, schafft er es nicht, sie abzuweisen. Stattdessen lädt er sie sogar ein, bei ihm zu wohnen, bis sie wieder auf ihren eigenen Füßen stehen. Mit Hilfe von Kip und seinen Freunden beginnt Jos sein Leben neu aufzubauen. Aber die Erfahrung hat ihn gelehrt, dass man nichts umsonst bekommt. Die Großzügigkeit, die ihm entgegengebracht wird, scheint zu gut, um wahr zu sein – genau wie alles an Kip.

Kip verliebt sich Hals über Kopf in Jos und dank Jos und Isaac fühlt sich sein großes Haus endlich wie ein richtiges Zuhause an. Aber dieses Glück kann nicht von Dauer sein. Denn Jos will seinen eigenen Weg gehen. Dann taucht eine entfernte Verwandte auf, die entschlossen ist, Jos' Familie auseinanderzureißen. Kip weiß nun, dass Jos ihn braucht – auch wenn er selbst vielleicht noch nicht bereit ist, es zuzugeben.

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Un pétulant chef de chantier peut-il aider à sortir du placard un animateur spécialisé dans l’immobilier ?

Brandon Chase, célèbre figure de la télé-réalité, comprend très bien l’importance de l’image – et des valeurs familiales ! – dans le monde des médias, aussi garde-t-il son homosexualité secrète.

Alors que son fracassant divorce fait encore les gros titres, voilà que la chaîne qui l’emploie, Restauration Channel, lui offre d’animer une nouvelle émission sur un projet à risque : la rénovation – à but lucratif – de maisons à New York. Échaudé par les cinglants articles parus à son sujet, Brandon hésite d’abord à s’impliquer, mais il tombe vite sous le charme d’une vieille demeure victorienne.

Et il ne s’intéresse pas seulement à la maison.

Travis Rogers, spécialisé dans la rénovation générale second œuvre, considère de son devoir de prévenir les clients potentiels des innombrables problèmes liés à la restauration, ce qui crée vite un climat de tension, d’abord sur le plateau, puis entre Brandon et lui. Mais quand les deux hommes finissent par céder à l’attraction qui crépite entre eux, ils mettent en péril aussi bien l’émission que leur relation naissante.

Travis déteste que Brandon soit traqué par les médias et que la chaîne ait la triste réputation de licencier ses salariés LGBT. Certaines maisons ont du potentiel, décide Brandon, tout comme leur relation, mais s’il ne parvient pas à convaincre Travis de tenter le coup, l’alchimie existant entre eux ne s’exprimera qu’à l’écran.

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For Javi Navarro, Detroit will become another blood-splattered city in his rearview mirror after he puts its dead back into the ground. Expecting an easy hunting job, Javi instead finds a kiss of ancient vampires on the hunt for a descendant of their long-dead creator. 
 
Reclusive Ciarnan Mac Gerailt abandoned his family legacy of blood and death magic after it nearly destroyed him. Unfortunately for Ciarnan, the Motor City can only be saved if he resumes his dark arts and joins forces with Javi Navarro, the hunter who brought the vampire apocalypse—and hope for the future—straight to Ciarnan’s front door.

Previously published as "Legacy of Blood and Death" in the anthology Creature Feature 2.

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Toby Kipton’s life is disintegrating. First he loses his job. Then, forced to leave the big city, he must return to his small hometown to bury his father.

It only gets stranger and more dangerous from there.

Toby becomes obsessed with his father’s mistress, a woman with whom his dad carried on a secret twenty-year affair. Unraveling the truth leads him deep into the nest of intrigue and vengeful gossip that plagues any small town, and soon Toby uncovers evidence that may tie his father to a local swingers’ club—and murder.

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When Jason Constance rescued a busload of kidnapped children, he didn’t expect a parade. He didn’t expect to be hunted by mobsters and the military either. Wounded and half out of his mind, Jason finds himself at the tender mercies of an angel-faced nurse named Cotton.

Cotton has just flunked out of porn, and as far as he can tell, he’s flunking life too. Having an injured colonel in his bed seems par for the course, but he’s too busy keeping Jason alive to question how fate brought him there.

But fate isn’t done with them. When they go on the run from the mobsters who shot Jason, there should be no time to fall in love, but neither man seems suited for an average life—or relationship. Jason and Cotton can probably survive homicidal mobsters and rogue military operations. The question is, can they survive the work they’ll have to do to forge a place just for them?

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When interstellar smuggler Haz Taylor loses his ship, his money, and his tattered reputation, drinking himself to death on a backwater planet seems like his only option. Then the Coalition offers him a contract to return a stolen religious artifact. Sounds simple enough, but politics can be deadly—and the artifact’s not enthusiastic about being returned.

Haz didn’t sign up to be prisoner transport, but he’s caught between a blaster and hard vacuum. Still, that doesn’t mean he can’t show his captive some kindness. It costs him nothing to give Mot the freedom to move about the ship, to eat when he’s hungry… to believe that he’s a person. It’s only until they reach Mot’s planet. Besides, the Coalition would hate it, which is reason enough.

Then he finds out what awaits Mot at home, and suddenly hard vacuum doesn’t look so bad. Haz is no hero, but he can’t consign Mot to his fate. Somewhere under the space grime, Haz has a sliver of principle. It’s probably going to get him killed, but he doesn’t have much to live for anyway….

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A Harmony Ink Press Title

The Elusive Spark: Book Four

The end of the world is coming.

On the run from the Paragon Academy, James, Falling Star, Lumen, and the rest meet up on their alien father’s spaceship on the shores of Venus. Together they must travel to the Hidden Mountain and face a test to determine which of them are members of the Twelve Heroes, a band of super beings charged with protecting the universe.

With the Eye of the Keeper, the Twelve Heroes wield the power to heal the Earth… but if the amulet falls into the wrong hands, that power could destroy everything. The Star Children must keep the Eye out of the Paragon Academy’s nefarious clutches—or risk the possibility of demons running free, plunging humanity into chaos and darkness. But they will have to work together. After all, no one has ever saved the world by themselves….

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A vampire succubus created during the Black Plague, Godfrey works as a Boston paramedic and battles loneliness and exhaustion as he fights to keep humanity safe from twin COVID and opioid epidemics.

He has always pursued that which provides him hope—medicine, the cello… love. But yielding to his feelings for his work partner, Trevor, would conflict with Godfrey’s complicated moral code. Instead he feeds on sexual energy when he must and investigates a drug ring in his spare time.

But even a vampire can’t ignore his feelings forever.

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Former world champion bronco rider Dustin and rancher Marshall have been life partners for more than twenty years, and time has taken its toll. Their sex life is as dusty as the rodeo ring. Somehow their marriage hasn’t turned out how they planned.

But when a new family moves in up the road with two young boys, one very sick, Dustin and Marshall realize how deep their ruts are and that there might be hope to break them. After all, where they’re from, the most important part of being a man is helping those who need it.

A new common purpose helps break down the deep routines they’ve fallen into and makes them realize the life they’ve been living has left them both cold and hollow. Spending time with the kids—teaching them how to be cowboys—reignites something they thought lost long ago. But twenty years is a lot of time to make up for. Can they find their way back to each other, or are the ruts they’ve created worn too deep?

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Flynn Dalton doesn’t want to be a hero. But for Genesis, she’ll do whatever it takes.

After her first, deadly brush with the paranormal, Flynn just wants to get back to her life: construction work, semiprofessional bowling, and her fiancée, Genesis. Unfortunately, Flynn’s abilities have caught the attention of the National Psychic Registry, and they have their own agenda. Wherever Flynn goes, the registry follows, setting up tests of her abilities, hounding her to attend the conference in Atlantic City for evaluation and training.

Flynn can handle the registry’s heavy-handed tactics, threats, and guilt trips. She’s even convinced herself she can deal with her own growing—and increasingly dangerous—powers. But the offer to heal the wounds she sustained in Dead Woman’s Pond, wounds that are making it almost impossible to do the work she loves, is much more tempting.

And if the registry learns of Gen’s addiction to dark magic, agreeing to do whatever the registry wants might be the only bargaining chip Flynn has left.

Unfortunately, the registry’s plans for her are much deadlier than a simple series of tests….

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