Holiday Romance books

Lake Copeland’s best friend Miriam is perpetually single. When she laments the idea of returning to her hometown solo for the holidays to meet her mom’s new husband, Lake has the perfect solution: he’ll tag along as her boyfriend. Fake boyfriend, that is. Some of his favorite holiday romances have fake boyfriends that lead to true love—and complications. But since he’s gay, there'll be no complications. Right?

Unfortunately Lake’s foolproof plan didn’t account for Miriam’s new stepbrother Spencer, who sets Lake’s heart aglow….

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Cassidy Hancock déteste être en retard, c’est même pathologique chez lui. Par un frais matin d’automne, il s’arrête sur le trottoir pour regarder le si beau fils de sa voisine courir derrière son chien… et voilà qu’un arbre lui tombe dessus.

Mark Taylor, interne en chirurgie orthopédique, assiste à la scène et prodigue les premiers soins au jeune homme. Malgré lui, il est fasciné par son voisin et peu à peu, tandis qu’il s’efforce d’aider Cassidy à se remettre de sa fracture, il comprend ce que cache cette obsession pour la ponctualité : l’histoire d’un garçon solitaire qui pense qu’il doit être parfait pour être aimé.

Les Taylor sont loin d’être parfaits, mais pour Cassidy, ils pourraient représenter la parfaite solution. Alors que les deux hommes apprennent à se connaître, Cassidy se met à fantasmer sur un avenir heureux en famille, ce qu’il n’aurait jamais pensé avoir un jour. Quant à Mark, il s’attache de plus en plus à Cassidy, à sa gentillesse, à ses grands yeux écarquillés et à sa surprenante créativité. Mais pour avancer, le couple doit surmonter les peurs de Cassidy. La période de Noël offre des joies infiniment plus riches que la ponctualité. 

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Alex goes to a dog rescue with one mission: overcoming one of his fears. But he gets more than he bargained for when he unexpectedly bonds with a Jack Russell terrier named Rudolph and decides to take him home.

When shelter volunteer Luther offers to show Alex the ropes of dog ownership, their time together proves they have more in common than just Rudolph’s affection. But if they’re going to have a happy holiday, Alex needs to come to terms with his issues. Can Luther help him see that love really can be unconditional?

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Propriétaire d’un magasin de loisirs créatifs, Grant a toujours eu un faible pour les jolis visages, et c’est deux fois pire pour un joli visage avec un adorable acolyte. Quand Aubrey, sept ans, veut à tout prix participer à la série d’ateliers de fêtes déjà complets de Grant, il cède et abandonne son seul jour de congé par semaine pour qu’elle (et son tuteur canon, Josh) puisse avoir des cours particuliers. Le flirt entre eux monte en puissance semaine après semaine, et même si Josh n’est pas avec la mère d’Aubrey, Grant ne peut pas être sûr qu’il soit hétéro. Peut-être qu’il est simplement amical. Et Josh, qui n’est définitivement pas hétéro, craint d’être le type louche qui drague le professeur.

Frustrée par leur entêtement et leur ignorance, Aubrey prend les choses en main. Elle décide que le meilleur cadeau à offrir à Josh est quelque chose fait maison avec le cœur – un petit ami qu’ils aimeront tous les deux.

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Chère Ruth,

Je ne suis pas d’humeur à fêter Noël. Après une relation amoureuse partie en fumée, je suis retourné dans ma ville natale du Kansas rural. Puis ma mère est décédée. Je suis très occupé par mon travail de capitaine des pompiers, et maintenant par la chronique de conseils de ma mère, que j’ai reprise à contrecœur. Il y a un nouveau venu sexy dans la rue, un homme avec une petite fille et un malheureux mépris pour la sécurité incendie. Il semble vouloir nouer une amitié, mais cela crée des problèmes qui pourraient être trop brûlants pour moi. Je n’ai vraiment pas besoin de décorations inflammables et de trop de nourriture de Noël en ce moment.

Comment suis-je censé prodiguer de bons conseils aux autres alors que je n’arrive pas à mettre de l’ordre dans ma propre vie ?

– Rabat-joie, Bailey Springs

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Bad to Be Good: Book Four

Former mobster Richard Marsden grew up scrounging on the streets of Detroit. This Christmas, for the first time, he has a family and the means to provide an abundant Christmas, and that’s what he intends to do.

But his husband, Daniel, grew up with everything. For Daniel, Christmas isn’t about receiving gifts, but the opportunity to help others. With his son in the hospital recovering from a tonsillectomy, Daniel knows just who he wants to help this year.

Both Daniel and Richard make plans for their family Christmas assuming the other is on board, leaving their holiday dangling on the precipice of disaster—unless they can remember that family, love, and the holidays mean compromising to give each other what they need. 

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Welcome to the Cardinal Christmas Market, an exclusive holiday experience where the offerings are as unique and quirky as the people and town who run it. 

Douglas is a first-time vendor, and he's determined to make a splash and grow from there. A mix-up means he has no choice but to share a booth with Boyd, one of Cardinal's own.

Douglas and Boyd don’t like each other’s style... or one another. But in the ensuing weeks working the booth, with help from a little Cardinal Christmas Market magic, they find their art, world views, personalities, and passions are complementary—even compatible. Can they get past feeling like the coal in each other's stockings to a sweet happy ending, or are they destined to be holiday humbugs?

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Workaholic investment banker Timothy Wyatt is determined to spend the first Christmas since his divorce with his four-year-old daughter, Megan. Fate—in the form of the largest winter storm system in a decade—seems determined to thwart him. When his flight from Dallas to Chicago is canceled, along with every other flight for at least the next two days, Tim is willing to try any alternative means of transportation to keep from disappointing his daughter yet again. 

Luckily for Tim, he’s befriended by Zach Whelan, another stranded traveler. Zach is a travel agent, and since he was only planning a solo vacation in Mexico over the holidays, he makes it his mission to get Tim to his daughter in time for Christmas instead. They have three days—how hard can it be?

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When Wil Buchanan walks into the yarn shop in his hometown of Asheville, he isn’t expecting anything other than to get an heirloom bedspread repaired as a Christmas present for his mother. He certainly doesn’t expect the owner to be his age, single, and attractive. The only problem? Wil’s life is in San Francisco… and he left Asheville behind for a reason. But the more time he spends in the city—and with Travis—the more he realizes it’s not the city he remembers, and he’s not the boy he once was.

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Cassidy Hancock hates being late—he’s pathological about it. Until the crisp fall morning when he pauses to watch his neighbor’s handsome son chase his dog down the sidewalk… and gets hit by a tree.

Mark Taylor sees the whole thing, and as a second-year medical resident, he gets Cassidy top-notch care. In spite of himself, he’s fascinated by his mother’s stodgy neighbor, and as he strives to help Cassidy recover from a broken leg, he begins to realize that behind Cassidy’s obsession with punctuality is the story of a lonely boy who thought he had to be perfect to be loved.

Mark and his family are far from perfect—but they might be perfect for Cassidy. As the two of them get to know each other, Cassidy fantasizes about the family and happy-ever-after he never thought he’d have, and Mark starts to yearn for Cassidy’s wide-eyed kindness and surprising creativity. But first they have to overcome Cassidy’s fears, because there is so much more fun to be had during Christmas than just being on time.

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Come the New Year, Luca Vocci is reluctantly headed to LA to start a new life he isn't sure he wants, far away from his beloved New York City and the lights of Broadway. Until then, he’s directionless, without his spark or any idea what to do next—so, with the holiday season upon him, Luca agrees to do a favor for an old friend and his high-school theater class.

Everything goes according to plan until a snowstorm traps Luca in a house with six rather dramatic teenagers, two chaperones with relationship problems, and three unexpected guests. For Luca, the house is full of memories—and now, music. Maybe the spark he’s looking for is hiding in plain sight.

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The holiday season is lonely for construction worker Benjamin Morgan, a big muscular guy who just wants to submit, obey, and serve. But the men he’s attracted to usually don’t have a dominant bone in their bodies. He’s done seeking his BDSM dreams with someone who isn’t interested in putting him in his rightful place—on his knees at their feet.

When a friend sets up a meeting with Foster Ridgeway at the BDSM club, Entwined, Benjamin has his doubts. Of course he is attracted to bookish Foster, who works for the same construction company, but how will someone so small and delicate-looking master Benjamin? But when Foster--the tiny temple of dominance wielding a crop—heads toward Benjamin, he might get what he’s always wanted, just in time for Solstice.

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The greatest gift might be what they already have.

After years away building his career, event planner Sebastian Chesnut returns to his small hometown of Fir Falls to reconnect with his mother, sister, and young nieces before his job takes him to London.

He doesn't expect to find his high school boyfriend, Matty, has become a virtual member of Seb's family. Back then, Matty only offered a casual relationship, but Seb fell hard, and history is soon repeating itself. Seb’s afraid to hope for a second chance, no matter how much they’ve grown and despite the family they share. Instead, he focuses on creating a last perfect holiday, which won’t be easy with his sister’s ex planning to take the girls over Christmas.

Seb and Matty might not know what to do about their feelings for each other, but one thing’s for sure—it won’t be Christmas without the kids. Can these star-crossed lovers pull off a holiday miracle?

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Graphic designer Eli has harbored a secret crush on nerdy math teacher Lincoln since they were at school together, and he’s perfectly content with his unrequited feelings—until Lincoln requests a special handmade holiday gift: a dating profile with all the bells and whistles Eli can include, one that will be sure to find Lincoln a boyfriend for Christmas.

Eli uses building the profile as an excuse to spend time with Lincoln, but will he be able to watch his friend find love with someone else?

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2019 Advent Calendar "Homemade for the Holidays."

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Ten years ago Jon’s passion for the piano took him across the country to New York, where a demanding concert career consumed his life and left him no time to look back. His father’s stroke is the only thing that brings him home to Seattle. The sickroom makes for a dreary holiday until Jon runs into Bo, whose inner light can make anything sparkle.

Bo loves the holidays: the food, the crafts, the glitter! A fling with an old school friend—who grew up to be his celebrity crush—makes a good thing better. The season turns sour, though, when Jon is offered a gig he can’t refuse. He wants Bo to share the moment, but Bo doesn’t fly. Anywhere. Ever. Is this goodbye, or will a handmade ornament bring Jon home to Bo?

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2019 Advent Calendar "Homemade for the Holidays."

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When Connor’s friend signs him up for a crochet course, the last thing he expects is to find love. However, at the community center, he meets hunky Finn. There’s only one problem: Finn assumes Connor’s there for the boxing class, and Connor lets him believe it, worried Finn will ditch him if he knows Connor prefers crafting to upper cuts. Can they salvage the situation when the truth comes out?

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2019 Advent Calendar "Homemade for the Holidays."

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Dealing with the unexpected loss of his mother isn’t how carpenter Steve Browning planned to spend his Christmas. Hoping her costume jewelry can bring some happiness to others, he takes it to the local community theater, where he runs into his first love, Troy Baxter.

Troy’s trying to help his sister put on a gender-fluid version of A Christmas Carol, but no one on the cast or crew knows which end of a hammer to hold let alone use a power tool. Then a face from the past brings a present-day miracle… one that could lead to the happy future they both thought they gave up back in high school.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2019 Advent Calendar "Homemade for the Holidays."

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Accountant Tristan plans to make a ton of crochet items for his local LGBT charity to sell at their holiday fair. His only problem? He can’t crochet.

Fortunately the community center offers a class, and it’s taught by Charlie, who is gorgeous and sexy and seems interested. At first. Can grandmotherly fellow classmate Ivy guide the clueless men to each other, or will it take something more serious to help them see the possibilities?

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2019 Advent Calendar "Homemade for the Holidays."

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