Holiday Romance books

Crispus Birchmount takes his responsibility to guard the gateway to the elven kingdom of Ashdale very seriously. But while the post itself is an honor, Crispus hates the human world—especially during the humans’ Christmas season when his elven ancestry is made into a mockery for the benefit of children! When he’s assigned to protect a young human, not even an altercation with a mall Santa can stop Crispus from locating Michel LeVandre, a unique man who awakens desires within Crispus he thought were long dead. The new distraction proves disastrous when enemy forces conspire to take the gate, but now Crispus has a human he really cares about and a renewed lust for life, and he’ll use the vanguard’s gift to defend Michel, the gate, and maybe the world.

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A Granby Knitting Novella

Rance Crawford is an alpaca rancher, fiber mill owner, and self-proclaimed grumpy bastard. When sweet, charming tenderfoot Ben McCutcheon moves onto Crawford’s rural road, Rance is very aware that Ben makes it a grand total of two gay men in their tiny town, and even though he is instantly, painfully smitten, any move he makes could be simply chalked up to being hard up. Using his best weapon and favorite skill, Crawford launches an awkward, wordless effort to make sure Ben is kept warm during the cold Colorado winter, every last piece of him—especially his heart.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2011 Advent Calendar package "I'll Be Home for Christmas."

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While home for Christmas with Ted and Edna, his foster parents, college student Austin Greenfield is surprised to meet Seth Barton, the son Edna gave up for adoption at birth. With his adoptive parents now dead, Seth desperately wants to meet his birth mother—who doesn’t want to know him. When Austin and Seth begin to fall in love, Austin finds himself torn: will he be forced to choose between his foster parents and his fledgling start at a life with Seth?

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Thirteen years ago, Eli went on a summer trip with his mother and never came back. Now, existing in a new life as Jacob Somerville, he’s again running from fear and memories, only to end up where he started. As Jacob struggles to reconnect with his father and brothers, he realizes that his lover, Craig Zhao, was the only thing filling his empty heart and standing between him and ghosts of the past. It will take the power of love—from his family, from Craig, and from himself—for Jacob to see that his life truly is filled with the promise of what can be.

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Now that Curt Knutzen’s family has found their footing with his sexuality, he’s finally coming home for Christmas. He almost doesn’t make it, though, placing his plans—and his life—in real danger until Oscar Nylund bails his car out of a snowdrift. Oscar is in the same straits Curt was three years ago, but with Curt’s open heart—and his family’s acceptance of him and Oscar—they may be able to rescue each other for longer than just the holidays.

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Trying to finish his latest story before it's time to leave on vacation, David snaps at his lover Peter for interrupting his train of thought just when the words are flowing.  He feels even more guilty when he finds Peter has prepared a special dinner for him, complete with a Sweetest Day cake – and David doesn’t even consider Sweetest Day a real holiday.  But after nearly twenty years together, David knows just how to make things up to Peter….

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Elliot and Shawn each want to buy the same one-of-a-kind item for Christmas—a very old and expensive antique bed—as a gift for their lovers. But when they both arrive at the store at the same moment, the proprietor tells them to figure out between themselves who gets the bed. Elliot and Shawn decide to hold a contest: winner buys bed.

And so the competitions begin, from selling charity tickets to cleaning out stables, and interpersonal tension and burgeoning attraction mount as the days until Christmas pass. But who deserves the gift more: Elliot, who can afford the expensive gift for his casual sex partner, or Shawn, who can barely cover rent, and the mysterious man he’s head-over-heels for?

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Harry is desperately unhappy with his life.  He hates his job, his apartment, and most especially, he hates the way he looks. Despite this, once Harry hears that his fantasy man, Javier Torres, is playing Santa at the local gay bar, he can't wait to get his picture taken sitting on Javier’s lap in hopes of finally catching the sexy man's attention.  But it all goes wrong, and Harry ends up telling a different “Santa” exactly how his life could be made better... but he doesn’t expect his Christmas wish to come true!

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In a perfect moment of cold November sunshine, pudgy accountant Kit Allen realizes Jesse, his new office assistant, is everything he's ever dreamed about in a man. Feeling supremely unworthy and desperate to get a life—even an imaginary one—Kit embarks on a self-improvement campaign featuring DVD fitness guru, Danny Fit.

In the meantime, Jesse has begun a subtle campaign of his own, one designed to bring Kit out of his DVD dream world and into Jesse's arms. Jesse isn't perfect—he's no Danny Fit—but he hopes that the kind, funny man who has been looking at him so soulfully since his first day at work has what it takes to be everything Jesse has always wanted.

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Still grieving after losing his lover, Randy Mallory hopes to find comfort in achieving their dream of starting a family. It’s a tough proposition under the best of circumstances, but even more so since he’s adopting a child from a foreign country as a single gay parent. Randy is sure that little Bahdri will bring joy to his life, but he hadn’t bargained on meeting the loving and lovely Ben Ballard at the orphanage in India. Why did the first man to spark his interest in all the months since Jason’s death have to live on the opposite side of the earth?

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Mick Argall is making ends meet as a shop-window model by keeping quiet, standing in the background, and going unnoticed. He’s played that role for twenty-two years in his personal life as well, watching the world pass him by, remaining alone... until this holiday season, when a certain young man stops to take a good, close look, and makes Mick break out of his mold.

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A spin-off of Finding Zach

Brian McCarthy is a cynic who hates Christmas, doesn't keep in touch with his family, and likes quick hookups and faster goodbyes. The only real relationship he's ever been in was with the subject of his best-selling book, "Caged," a young man held hostage for five years. Unfortunately, it was entirely one-sided, since Zach was already involved with someone else.

So the last thing Brian expects when he goes in for treatment for an injured knee is to develop feelings for his physical therapist. But Jerry seems intent on either avoiding Brian or demanding more than he is willing to give, and Brian doesn’t know if he has the courage to face his past to forge a future.

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When his young niece Bailey moves in, Cory knows he needs to end his casual fling with Ken. Bailey’s had enough upheaval in her short life, and Cory doesn't want her to get attached to a “friend” who won't be sticking around. Even so, Cory finds himself continuing to let Ken into his life, but a one-night-stand gone serial isn’t what Cory wants, and so he makes The List: his requirements for the perfect partner.

Helping out during a difficult time, Ken finds himself being pulled into the family unit despite Cory’s previous emotional distance. He hopes he's finally breaking through, on the verge of convincing Cory to make their relationship more than a casual one. Then, while helping Bailey write to Santa, he finds Cory's list and takes it as his cue to bow out—just when Cory needs him the most.

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Kyle’s mother thinks he’s crazy. He’s just moved from Florida to Anchorage, Alaska for an elementary school teaching job. In December. She may not be far off base. Spooked by a “monster” outside his new house, Kyle calls for the police, only to discover that his attacker is a moose named Mariah. More visits from the moose yield more visits from the same sexy policeman, and the two men explore ways to stay warm in the frozen North.

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Jay and Fran have been a couple for twenty years. They have a great relationship with only one minor bone of contention: while Fran is very much a member of Jay's extended family, to Fran's family, Jay is just "his business partner." It's not that Fran doesn’t want to come out to his family; it's more that they don't want to hear it.

When Fran's father, an evangelical minister, dies, Fran hopes the rest of his family will be more accepting. This hope is nipped in the bud by his very conservative older brother, so Jay's mother steps in and invites Fran's mother over for Christmas... but will joining Fran’s happy-go-lucky in-laws be too much for Fran's mother, or will they help her see the truth of just how much Jay means to Fran?

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With friends and family busy or unwelcoming, Alec and Eli make an unusual decision and accept an invitation from the Tuckers, the family of Eli's dead lover. At first it makes for an uncomfortable holiday, but both men may find questions answered and fears quieted by basking in the love and understanding of the colorful clan.

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During the Christmas holidays, the affluent Haden knocks on the door of Quinn's homeless shelter with a proposition: he wants to help make Christmas a little brighter for the shelter's residents. But Quinn is suspicious of Haden's motives and money. The fact that their worlds are miles apart is painfully clear, and although Quinn finds he just might be able to love Haden, his own prejudices might block the way to a future together.

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Connell and Spence met on the Savannah riverwalk, drawn together by Spence's music and the sudden passion that flared between them. But when Connell has to return to England, rather than wearing itself out as long-distance relationships often do, their attraction only grows stronger. Facing the holidays alone, Connell decides there's only one place he wants to be for Christmas--with Spence.

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