pairing – m-nb

Word Count: Click here to reveal250500 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Gay, Genderqueer, Lesbian, Non Binary, Pansexual, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: Resistance. Defiance. Endurance. Welcome to the Can’t Hold Us Down: Tales of Defiance & Hope charity anthology, where LGBTQA+ characters not only embrace the love in their life, but they’ve got the courage to last and their souls all but scream, “They can't get rid of us – we'll always be here.” Come snarl with the shifters as they serve up FAFO and make new connections in Protect Your Community (Details Inside) and Defiant… Travel with inquisitive minds as they chase after mysteries and the most unexpected people in Hex of Hiding and The RUST… Crawl into the hearts of lovers who continue to face the tedious test of time in Berries and My Genevieve… Cheer on the sweet taste of new love as shifters with disabilities find their people and a fresh future in Pack Life 101: An Outcast's Guide to Love & Belonging and Night Moth… Avenge loved ones and stand toe to toe with death and love in A Heartfelt Melody and The Scorpion and the Scythe… Flash forward and gaze upon what humanity’s future could be like with the communities in Utopian Scholastic and Surfacing. Stories of strength and fight. Stories with hope and heart. Stories of those who endure. Featuring works by: Stephanie Rabig, Amir Lane, Disco Barrington, Ari Lawrence, Vivian Moira Valentine, Megan Derr, Caeli Faye, Jasmine Gower, Lexi Ander, Archer Kay Leah, Amara Lynn, and Alex Powell, with a Foreword by Winter Tashlin. ~ ~ ~ * 100% of proceeds from sales of this anthology will go to LGBTQIA+ charity organizations, but the anthology is not endorsed or sponsored by any such organization. The anthology is also a limited edition and will be available until October 31, 2027, so get your copy now! Some stories include content that is intended for 18+ readers. *** All proceeds will be going to Rainbow Railroad and the Transgender Law Center! ***  

Word Count: Click here to reveal68000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Genderqueer, Non Binary, Pansexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: Attention all T.A.G. addicts! The wait is finally over! A new file is being released from the archives. Hello all you hungry fans that have been patiently waiting. It’s your trusty communications agent Mr. No. I know it’s been ages, almost 15 years, since the last release from the archives, but the boys over at T.A.G. HQ had a lot on their hands. There’s a new Mr. H in town, or not so new if you get my drift. And the world went topsy-turvy five years ago with the revelation that dragons and other creatures had been hiding amongst us for thousands of years. Who saw that coming? No one! Absolutely, no one! It’s a whole new world out there, folks, and with it comes new challenges for us here at T.A.G. to overcome. But the wait is over, and now I have in my hot hands the declassified file on what happened to Agent Mx. Ru. Mx. Ru must cool their heels in New Mexico just like Mr. H had to that one time we don’t talk about…much. Assuming the identity of a regular college student, Mx. Ru soon becomes entangled in a robbery that escalates into a murder. Stalking, murder, Irish mafia, and Mx.Ru's interest have ensnared a transplant from Boston, Homicide Detective Cormac O’Leary. The plot thickens, the pot is stirred, and they’re both in a race against time to stop a murderer from escaping justice. Justice being Mx. Ru’s trigger finger. Will Mx. Ru save Cormac? Will Cormac escape from his past? Will they come together to conquer the world or will the truth break them? I don’t know!! But I’m making the popcorn. Content warnings can be found at the beginning of the book or at the author's website. The Assassins’ Guild is a continuous series and must be read in order. T.A.G. You're Seen T.A.G. You're Heard T.A.G. Family Christmas T.A.G. You're Found T.A.G. You’re Mine

Word Count: Click here to reveal74000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGenderfluid, Pansexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: Falling in love with your best friend? 1/10. Do not recommend. Too bad my heart didn’t get the memo. Every date I’ve been on this year has felt like a job interview I didn’t prepare for. Cold, boring, and the cause of devastatingly low self-esteem. Korie—my gender-fluid best friend—knows more about me than anyone. When my sister jokingly says they should date me to give me pointers, we both laugh. It’s too ridiculous to even consider. Except, that’s exactly what happens. We think it’ll be funny. Something we can laugh about later. But somewhere between holding their hand and sharing food across a dinner table, I realize something terrifying: they’re my ideal partner. How have I never seen it before? Caring for them has never been hard. Pretending it doesn’t wreck me when we kiss goodnight is another story. I’m suddenly aching for them in ways I never have before, and worse? Korie doesn’t date. Ever. The whole point of this was to keep it fake. To practice being real without changing our friendship. So how do I convince my heart to play along—when admitting the truth could cost me my best friend?

Word Count: Click here to reveal45000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Non Binary, Pansexual, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: On tour with The Rade, music’s-out-and-proud glam rock darlings, drummer Wren is having the time of their life. That is, until their worst knocker-fae nightmare suddenly happens: They’re sucked off stage and into a witch’s summoning circle mid-show. A powerful binding keeps them from leaving their enthraller’s side, and the annoyingly hot witch claims it’s all just a mistake. But since when has a human ever passed up the chance to use fairy magic for their own financial gain? August Minotte should’ve been trained as a hereditary witch, but instead he was forbidden to use the grimoires his infamous grandmother left him. The Minottes lost a huge fortune for mysterious reasons, and now Augie’s barely keeping his head—and his dwindling family—above water. When he finds a spell to get back their lost riches, he’s just desperate enough to use it. Then the spell summons and enthralls a beautiful, spicy fairy rockstar instead delivering a long-lost pile of money. They’ll both have to face their families’ dark histories to set Wren free. Then, and only then, they can think about acting on all this pent-up attraction that’s driving them both absolutely wild.

Word Count: Click here to reveal110000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Genderfluid, Intersex, Questioning, Straight, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: After Echo Fisher loses his grandfather, he stumbles on a journal detailing the location of a hidden, underwater cave filled with priceless dolphinkind relics. The only issue? It’s in orca waters. Crossing the boundary could start another war… but the need to prove his grandfather wasn’t the flake everyone in the pod thought pushes him to do the unthinkable. During his regular patrols, Maelstrom Marino notices the little dolphin shifter sitting close to the line, spying on orca waters. When Echo finally gets the nerve to cross the boundary, Mael swoops in… but almost too late. Another predator has Echo in their sights, and they’re a lot closer than he is. Echo barely makes it out of orca waters alive—but the danger is only beginning. The following night, the orca who saved him shows up and demands to know what was so important that he’d threatened the treaty. Mael won’t leave without answers, and he’s not against persuasive seduction to get what he wants.

Word Count: Information not available

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Demisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Non Binary, Pansexual, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: Queer, spicy, adventurous, swoony, The Superpowered Love series explores the mixed-up love lives of the “awakened”, humans with superpowers. As they find their loves, the world around them is changing--and their secrets won't stay secret forever. 1. Equilibrium 1.1. Jealousy: A Love Story 1.2 Best Gift Ever 2. Riot Boy 2.1: Willoughby Spit 3. Nobody's Hero 3.1: Grá Mo Chroí 4. Losing Better 4.1: Caped Crusader 5. Re-Entry Burn 6. In Distress 7. The Playhouse 8. The Takedown 9. Under Siege 10. A New Beginning The series is complete, and this box set contains all 10 novels, as well as the 5 short stories that come in between them, at a steep discount. Available only from the author at KateyHawthorneShop.com.

Word Count: Click here to reveal18,500 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Non Binary (Click here to hide)

Summary: Darius Adams is at the pharmacy for his fall vaccines when he meets Rafael Balam. He’s instantly attracted to the cute, nonbinary costume designer. Over drinks at a nearby café, they discover a lot of things in common, from recently losing parents and moving house to people Rafael knows at Darius’ new teaching job. It doesn’t take long to decide they want to see a lot more of each other. Neither was on the hunt for a new relationship, but when it seems a good one has opened up in front of them, they walk right in. During the next few months, Darius and Rafael learn how to be boyfriends, then lovers. Then they open up the living-together conversation. At midlife, are they too set in their ways, or do they love each other enough to make it work?

Word Count: Click here to reveal45114 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGenderfluid, Genderqueer, Non Binary, Questioning (Click here to hide)

Summary: When fate throws them together for the summer, will Riley and Sebastian give in to their attraction or keep fighting against gravity? Riley O'Brien has always known they are not a girl, so when their parents send them to boarding school they secretly register for the boys' academy instead of the girls'. But Riley finds more than they bargained for when they meet the headmaster's son Sebastian Otero, the charismatic captain of the polo team. Sebastian Otero finally gets to join the elite pre-college program at Torrance Academy where he lives with his dad. But his perfect summer is quickly turned upside-down by the arrival of new student Riley, and Sebastian finds himself attracted to someone he never expected. It's the summer of 2000, the days are heating up and there are sure to be fireworks.

Word Count: Click here to reveal69,500 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealLesbian, Questioning (Click here to hide)

Summary: A murdered drag queen. Dozens of suspects. One determined detective. Lieutenant Detective Jenna Ferrari excels at catching criminals, and while she’s come a long way toward taming her temper—thanks to her loving partner, Dr. Miranda McLeod—this case may get the better of her. While Jenna and Randi are in the audience of a regional drag competition, the contestant favored to win is being murdered backstage. Deciding she needs a man on the inside to really find out what’s going on, Jenna sends a member of her team undercover as the murdered queen’s replacement. Will he reveal the killer or long-concealed truths about himself? Who killed the queen? Was it a nasty anti-LGBTQ protestor, a homophobic pastor, the victim’s ex-boyfriend, another competitor, or someone nobody suspects? The killer isn’t done. Enter the fabulous world of drag in this established-couple, sapphic, queer-inclusive whodunit mystery novel.

Word Count: Click here to reveal38000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Aromantic, Bisexual, Demigender, Demisexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: RISE (noun / verb) Eight definitions to inspire writers around the world, and an unlimited number of possible stories to tell: 1) An upward slope or movement 2) A beginning or origin 3) An increase in amount or number 4) An angry reaction 5) To take up arms 6) To return from death 7) To become heartened or elated 8) To exert oneself to meet a challenge Rise features 300-word speculative flash fiction stories from across the rainbow spectrum, from the minds of the writers of Queer Sci Fi.

Word Count: Click here to reveal75000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Genderfluid, Non Binary, Pansexual, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: A gender-fluid cutie, a workaholic hottie, and a hookup gone right.   Blake No romantic relationship could ever compete with my dream job. Sure, it gets lonely, but that’s what occasional hookups are for. Work-life balance? Who cares? I certainly don’t. Until chest pains bring me to my knees and land me in the emergency room.   It’s a wake-up call I can’t afford to ignore.   When my well-meaning family encourages me to make some major life changes, like hiring a meditation and physiotherapy coach, whatever that is, I’m worried enough to agree.   Imagine my surprise when my practitioner turns out to be the hookup I haven’t been able to forget.   Stef What’s a fabulously vivacious gender-fluid beauty to do when stress is high and Prince Charmings aren’t lined up at their door? Head to the club to recharge my sparkle on the dance floor. I have no intention of hooking up with anyone. Hookups are not my thing.   Then I see the slightly older hottie in the Tom Ford suit, and all my self-restraint goes up in a blast of glitter. When it turns out he’s my new meditation client and my friend's older brother, I’m sure the universe is messing with me.   Because mixing business with pleasure is a huge no-no. So why does my heart keep shouting yes? Free Me is a low-angst, opposites attract, worlds collide, contemporary LGBTQ romance about a hookup gone right. It contains no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA.

Word Count: Click here to reveal144300 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Bisexual, Gay, Non Binary, Polyamorous (Click here to hide)

Summary: Book 1-5 in the TALES OF THE FOREST series The Forester Kelnaht, a cloud elf, is a truth seeker caught between love and faith, when a murder reveals an illicit affair between two tree elves he desires more than he can admit. Kelnaht’s former lover Ianys once betrayed him, and the shunned forester Taruif is not allowed to talk to anyone but the guide, their spiritual pathfinder. Lost and Found A stripling goes missing from the tribe, and heavy rainfall hides all traces of his whereabouts. With days creeping by without a lead, it’s hard to keep the tribe’s spirits up, more so when Kelnaht’s own future depends on the elders. Taruif has been shunned for almost twenty turns, but now that a possible forester’s apprentice is coming of age, the elders consider reducing his sentence. Taruif could be set free. Full Circle When several children fall ill with more than a summer bug, truth seeker Kelnaht is assigned to investigate. What he finds is deadly and threatens the life of every underage child in the tribe, including Ianys’ daughter Atèn. Then a wounded traveller is found in the forest, left to die after a vicious attack. Oren's Right Forester Veld loses a piece of himself to mute baker Oren when they first meet, but Oren is vowed to Haram. When Haram is killed, Veld has no intention of dishonouring his memory, but his death may not have been an accident. Only a forester can learn what the trees have seen. However, Oren's independence is threatened, and if Veld does not offer what Oren needs, Oren may never be his to claim. Twenty-Five Turns Fear of moving farther away from his family had cost Eer the love of his life. When Kat returns after twenty-five turns…with a son, any hope Eer has of rekindling their love seems doomed to fail because a murderer’s taste for revenge forces Kat to choose between endangering their family or running… and leaving Eer behind, again. ___________________________ TALES OF THE FOREST is an ongoing series of standalone stories linked by a forest world. Content warnings are available in the books' front matter and on the author's website.

Word Count: Click here to reveal31600 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Gay, Non Binary (Click here to hide)

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: Click here to reveal89000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Intersex (Click here to hide)

Summary: It was always a monstrous lie... Born with a sexual development disorder, Chyna Davidson should have been raised as a male, but due to an epic parenting fail, is being raised as female. Hiding the truth becomes more difficult when Chyna hits puberty, and crushing over Luca Dilorio, her brother's best friend, adds another element to Chyna’s struggle to fit in. Growing up with two dads and two gay uncles has given Luca a unique perspective on gender roles, but not all the answers. He’s had a secret crush on his straight best friend, Chip, for years. Suddenly, Luca finds himself attracted to Chyna, Chip’s twin sister. Now he's wondering if this means he’s bisexual. With Lil and Grier away on vacation, fifteen-year-old Luca is left in the care of Chicago Bear, Clark Stevens, and his partner, Dr. Jody Williams. Is his moral compass strong enough to guide him successfully through this period of discovery without his parents loving presence or will he succumb to peer pressure and shatter Chyna's dreams for happiness?

Word Count: Click here to reveal30000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Non Binary, Pansexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: Welcome to Bear Essentials, where we strive to make your inner beauty shine bright. Mel Carter is perfectly content with their life. A chance encounter and a size fifteen foot in their mouth later, content is no longer acceptable. Elias Garcia slammed into Mel's life with a carefree giggle. There was only one thing for a Dommy with a penchant for strict rules like Mel to do, assess their life and take the leap, okay two things. Join Bear Essentials' front-end manager as they discover just how special the full-time genius, part-time free spirit, Elias aka Blu, really is. Ruling It All is an M-NB sweet and fluffy romance with BDSM concepts, an age gap, pets who are "silent" characters, and an AI that will cause more than a little mishap.

Word Count: Click here to reveal30000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealGay, Non Binary, Pansexual (Click here to hide)

Summary: Flee. Scatter. Take your mates and your offspring and run. The escape pods fall to Earth one by one over the course of weeks, a mysterious and diverse alien diaspora, each pod containing a different alien race and leaving the world's governments scrambling to deal with this unexpected immigration. Serge Kosygin, still grieving and isolated after his husband's death, watches events with gray disinterest until one day he witnesses a pod crash for himself while driving home. Two of the alien visitors have died, but one survives, badly injured, and Serge is determined that if this alien is also going to die, it won't be under the harsh lights of a government facility. Devastated by the loss of his life mates in their desperate effort to reach safety, the knowledge that Een is the last Aalana in this sector of the galaxy only compounds his sorrow. He wakes in an alien dwelling under the care of one of the native dominant builder species, a being who appears to share nothing with Een besides a bipedal structure. Slowly, with the help of his patient and kind host, he discovers they are more similar than he imagined as they share harmonies and his host assists him with language acquisition. Their tentative first contact soon evolves into a deepening friendship, a balm for two grief-weary souls. They'll need each other and their growing bond for the troubles lurking just ahead. Publisher's Note Eating Stars was previously published as part of Meteor Strike: Serge & Een as a novelette. It has undergone extensive rewrites and edits with over 10,000 words of new content added.

Word Count: Click here to reveal7000 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealBisexual, Genderfluid, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: A gender-fluid prince finds an unexpected ally in an arranged marriage with a transgender man. Prince Darian is willing to give up his penchant for gowns when he must wed for the sake of the kingdom. However, his intended bride has a secret of their own. A marriage of convenience may bring something neither expected—acceptance, and all that entails.

Word Count: Click here to reveal100500 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealAce, Genderqueer, Non Binary, Pansexual, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: For Ress, survival is a complicated nightmare. Caught between two masters on different sides of the law, his life is falling apart one bad decision at a time. All he wants is to be is a good person, a loyal family man, and a successful metalsmith—a dream he can never obtain while he works for the Shar-denn, the violent gang that plagues the republic of Kattal. To make matters worse, he works as an informant for the High Council. He scrapes through both jobs waiting for his last breath. As the Shar-denn motto says: the only way out is dead. No stranger to living complicated decisions, Adren is caught between worlds of cir own. As the child of a Shar-denn faction boss, cir life is a conflicted tangle of expectation and duty. When cir family is arrested, Adren manages to escape, but nowhere is safe. Desperate and on the run, Adren is determined to punish Ress for turning in cir family. No one who betrays the gang can live. Ress must pay the price, even if Adren has to go against everything ce is.

Word Count: Click here to reveal4800 (Click here to hide)

Character Identities: Click here to revealNon Binary, Polyamorous, Transgender (Click here to hide)

Summary: When secrets thaw, can love endure? Tahl navigates the melting mess of love, identity, and secrets as ey face the chilling task of revealing eir true self to Enfys, eir partner, before they weave their lives together. Ey promised Enfys ice bears for Midwinter, but neglected to tell him that ey and eir kin are the ice bears. Now Tahl's fears of rejection might freeze the warmth of their relationship before Enfys' embrace can melt away the barriers between them. Set against the backdrop of an enchanted wintry world and hidden shifters, "Midwinter Bears" is a tender, magical romance about self-acceptance, trust, and the courage it takes to be truly known.