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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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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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A senseless accident leaves Ryan Blackstone a single father. His son, Leo, survives, only for the hospital to discover he has leukemia. Ryan’s only hope to save him is a bone marrow donor.

A donor registry reveals a perfect match for Leo but unearths an unsettling family secret: Ryan’s wife’s brother isn’t  dead. Then they meet, and Ryan realizes Dylan could save him as well.

Dylan McKenzie stopped thinking about his family’s betrayal when they kicked him out twelve years ago. They would rather say he is dead than gay. So the news of his sister’s death comes as a shock. Dylan is afraid being pulled back into the family will hurt him again, but meeting Ryan and Leo upends his plan to keep his heart closed.

Ryan almost lost everything. Now he must decide if he can gamble losing his family to have everything he’s ever wanted. Together, he and Dylan could be the perfect match. 

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When a tackle stopped NFL superstar Tyler Fantana’s heart, millions of fans watched their MVP die on camera. Now America’s Tightest End has headed home to put his broken pieces back together. Tyler knows returning to football could kill him, so keeping his rehab on track seems impossible—until he starts training with a familiar guy-next-door who knocks his jock off.

Josh Ayres has harbored a secret crush on Tyler since high school. Fifteen years later, Josh has blossomed from a quiet nerd into bona fide beefcake, coaching the team for his alma mater. Helping Tyler get back in the game might become the second chance he never expected… if he can work up the courage to confess his feelings to the bad boy he never stopped loving.

Sparks fly as Tyler and Josh join forces to save the school library, battling book bans, malicious gossip, and media pressure. What happens if infatuation turns into something that feels like forever? And when the NFL offers Tyler the chance to reclaim his fame, can he choose between a deadly game and the man who finally taught him that hearts can heal?

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Second chances only happen in the movies… right?

For the past several years, Matthew’s life has been one challenge after another. Keeping his sister’s four orphaned kids fed, clothed, housed, and entertained has him run ragged. Now he’s losing the kids’ mentor and maybe his job, if the plant where he works as an electrician shuts down like the rumors say. When his car won’t start outside the hospital, it’s the last thing he needs. Matthew could use a hero… so of course that’s when Lucas Reardon shows up again.

A-list actor Lucas Reardon returned to his Michigan hometown to say goodbye to his father. The last person he expects to see is Matthew Wilson, the one who got away. Lucas helps Matthew out with the car, the kids, whatever he needs. But really, *he’s* the one who needs saving. Years of the fast-paced Hollywood life have worn him down to nothing, and a deranged stalker is making his life hell. Matthew becomes his refuge. But relationships need time to grow and bloom. With the paparazzi breathing down their necks and a deadline on Lucas’s return to LA, can they build a life worthy of the big screen?

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Renowned surgeon Ben McNatt is up for the job of his dreams, and when he gets it, he’ll be the youngest chief of neurosurgery in his hospital’s history. His success rate is flawless, but his perceived lack of compassion is hurting his chances. He’s always viewed relationships as a distraction, but a loving partner might change his colleagues’ ideas about his heartlessness. He’ll do whatever it takes for this promotion—even pretend to date. The natural choice for his fake boyfriend is the cute guy at the coffee shop.

Jamie Anderson is in student loan debt up to his eyeballs. He has three roommates, and not in a quirky found-family way. He works sixty hours a week as a barista, and his boss won’t stop hitting on him. He’s even given up on love. He makes do with fantasies about the hot doctor that comes in for coffee every day like clockwork.

A fake relationship might solve Jamie’s handsy boss problem too. And there’s no way it will lead to real feelings when that’s the last thing either of them wants.
So why are they having so much trouble convincing themselves they aren’t falling for each other?

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Owen Hart’s wits—and his supernatural ability to read others’ emotions—give him an edge at the poker table, but his luck runs out when he gets hauled in to explain his suspicious success to the owner of Spades Casino. Or does it?

Leo Ellis is a successful businessman and criminal who launders money for other mobsters. Owen fascinates him. Sensing there is more to the man than meets the eye, Leo offers him a job as a waiter/sex-optional escort and moves Owen in.

But things get complicated when Leo’s fascination deepens into something else, and then even more so when they fall into bed together.

Having dealt with years of drama and secrecy, Owen feels vulnerable opening up to Leo. The whirlwind romance also puts Leo into a position that he never anticipated. Their emotions are tested further when Leo's most dangerous rival kidnaps Owen to use as a bargaining chip. Will Leo and his men be able to rescue him and keep him safe? Will Leo's second-in-command ever get enough of Owen's cupcakes? With any luck, love may be in the cards at Spades.

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Detective Gary Mitchell and psychic Dan Porter have a new cold case to tackle, and new leads to research in the hunt for Gary’s brother’s killer. Their life in Boston has settled into a comfortable rhythm.

But when forensic discoveries in a recent robbery gone wrong share similarities with their three-year-old cold case, all they can do is follow the evidence—and Dan’s gift—which leads them in an unexpected direction, way out of their comfort zone.

Gary and Dan find themselves in a shadowy world where they can trust no one, with unseen opponents who want them to back away from their investigation—and suddenly they’re in a race they have to win.

Because if they don’t, the consequences could be more far-reaching than they could possibly imagine.

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The Pacific Northwest border town of the Dominion is soaked in magic. Full moons are a bloody spectacle, local restaurants have unicorn on the menu, and a dragon once burned down City Hall. The excitement makes the Dominion a beacon to tourists… but many of them never make it home.

Travel writer Innis Stuart and his photographer, Karsten Roth, are visiting the Dominion to explore its dangers and offer a warning to overconfident tourists. Unfortunately, they may be among that number.

Their local guide is an old friend to Innis, but he's not acting like himself. Why does he seem to be working with the biggest crime boss in town? And why did both Innis and Karsten feel such a strong compulsion to enter the Dominion in the first place?

It turns out that what they don’t know about the Dominion can hurt them, but it’s not as dangerous as what they don’t know about themselves.

Come along for a tour of the city known as “the most magical place on Earth”... and don’t forget to buy travel insurance.

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George Lester, the Duke of Northumberland, flees familial expectations in Britain for the promise of freedom of San Francisco, looking for the chance to be himself. But before he even gets close, a blizzard forces him off the road, and he finds himself freezing half to death in a small town with no motel… with a litter of puppies to look after.

Luckily for George, he also finds Alan.

As the heir to his family’s ranch, Alan Justice knows the burden of being the oldest son. He doesn’t have time to show George, the stranger his brother dragged home, what it takes to be a cowboy. But that very night, George surprises him by helping a mare in distress through a difficult birth. Maybe the duke is made of sterner stuff than Alan thought.

George and Alan keep surprising each other, and every day they grow a little closer. But when George’s responsibilities call him home, Alan finds he’s the one who has something to prove—that he can handle what it means to be the duke’s cowboy. 

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Larx and Aaron have faced a lot together—small-town prejudice, work injuries, and pregnant daughters. But finally two of their teenagers have graduated and Larx is making moves to lessen his workload in anticipation of Aaron being elected sheriff in the fall. Maybe, just maybe, they can start planning the wedding they’ve longed to have.

Then a student goes missing and Aaron’s mentor takes a bullet during the search. Larx and Aaron backburner their plans and jump into what they do best—taking care of their people.

They don’t expect to be the ones who end up in danger.

While Larx and Aaron struggle to get out of their perilous situation, their family is galvanized into action. Just like Larx and Aaron’s relationship, their rescue is going to take hard work, ingenuity, and a solid sense of humor, but the people whose lives they’ve touched are up for the job. Nobody will rest until Larx and Aaron are safe and sound—and ready to ride off into the sunset toward the beginning of the rest of their lives.

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When Liam Belanger gets a professional tryout with the Miami Caimans, he’s hoping to land a roster spot that’ll keep him from bussing tables. If he can make the team and score a tryout in bed with Russ Lyons, the veteran defenseman who’s appointed himself Liam’s mentor, that would be the icing on the sweet hockey cake.

Living life by a strict set of rules has worked out well for Russ. He has a great career, great friends, and a great family, even if they do keep setting him up with hometown honey traps. But he can’t stop time, and now, despite all his planning, he’s looking at his last year with the Caimans before the uncertainty of free agency. Maybe that’s why he finds sunny, free-spirited Liam so attractive. 

He’s still not going to sleep with his rookie.

Probably.

Liam starts the season in the minors, but it’s not long before he gets a shot at the Big Show. His year is shaping up to be a dream come true—even before Russ picks up on Liam’s passes and proves defensemen can score too. 

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San Francisco SWAT Lieutenant Connor Morgan and Crossroads Gin drummer Forest Ackerman make an odd couple. Connor, an Irish-born cop from a tight-knit family, never imagined he’d find his happily-ever-after with a raised-on-the-streets musician, but Forest had the gentlest soul he’d ever met. After a long, hard road of heartbreak, murder, and trouble, they fell hard in love and married.

Then Fate intervenes and throws their lives into a chaos neither one of them is prepared for.

During a brutal SWAT raid, Connor stumbles on Tate, an abused, vulnerable little boy caught in a shoot-out with his father’s drug-running gang. As heavy fire riddles the walls, an injured Connor rescues Tate from the fray… only to be struck numb when a caseworker pries a sobbing Tate from his arms.

Scarred from his own childhood experiences, Forest doubts he can be a good enough father, but Connor assures him they can give Tate what he needs and more. Soon they are on an insane ride where trust and affection are hard-earned, especially when coming from a little boy raised in society’s filthiest gutters. Facing down every challenge thrown their way, they battle to give Tate what Connor treasures and Forest never had—a family to call his own. 

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Dillon Fitzgerald is a famous singer. He’s also exhausted. Too many shows in a too busy schedule have left too little time for him to write or relax. He feels like the music is being strangled out of him. Some time is just what the doctor ordered, so when his friend offers him a week on a cruise, Dillon gets right on board. All he has to do is grow a little beard and hope no one recognizes him.

Financial advisor Tio Smythe-Barrett has been friends with Dillon forever. When the latest in a long string of girlfriends turns out to be a cheater, Tio offers her spot on what would have been a romantic vacation to Dillon instead. After all, why wouldn’t he want to spend a week with his best friend?

As Tio and Dillon share close quarters, the boundaries in their friendship shift like the ocean currents. Spending time with Tio has Dillon’s creative muse singing, and he can no longer deny that his feelings for Tio go beyond friendship. His heart soars when Tio responds to his flirting—but is he willing to risk what they have for the chance at true love?

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When cantankerous firefighter Dirk Krause gets injured on the job, no one at his firehouse cares enough to visit, so new guy Lee Stockton gets saddled with the task of bringing him a sympathy bouquet. Dirk figures it won’t take much to get Lee to hate him too, but Lee sees right through his attempt to push everyone away and picks his own battle—getting Dirk to stop being a jerk.

Good thing they’re firefighters, because the chemistry between them is explosive. Together they face burning buildings, budget cuts, professional failures, and family drama. If their relationship can survive that, it can survive anything. Right?

Bonus story: Traffic cop Justin Briggs keeps a cool head on the job, but put him in front of a hot guy and it all goes up in smoke. Firefighter Rock Sparks happens to be the hot guy in question. Teasing Justin for being tongue-tied is fun, but when Justin gets injured, everything turns serious. Can Rock get Justin to open up about his past so they can explore a future together?

This anthology contains the following previously published novellas: Redemption by Fire (published by Dreamspinner Press May 2012), Strengthened by Fire (published by Dreamspinner Press August 2012), Burnished by Fire (published by Dreamspinner Press October 2012), and Heat Under Fire (published by Dreamspinner Press March 2013).

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Welcome back to the world of Granby, where the yarn is soft, the knitting is fine, and the critters are never far off....

After the happy ever after of Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny's Lair, Jeremy and Aiden continued to be fan favorites, and author Amy Lane visited them from time to time in a series of whimsical shorts that were posted on her blog and Patreon. Those shorts, together with a brand-new, never before seen Christmas novel featuring the entire Granby family, are gathered here in Weddings, Christmas, and Such, a collection of stories that show the good times in the bad, and the hope even in the darkness. Welcome back to the world of Granby—Jeremy, Aiden, Craw, Ben, Stanley, Johnny, Ariadne, Rory, and baby Persephone are all happy to see you again!

In This Collection:

The Gift of a Birthday: The folks at Craw's mill and shop have always knitted for each other's big holidays, but one person in their midst hasn't been entirely honest about his own birthday...

Bunnies: Ariadne and Rory are going off on a much-needed vacation--are Jeremy and Aiden prepared for full-time childcare and all the hard questions it might entail?

And the Mountains Should Crumble: Hard times have come to Granby--can Craw and his small patchwork family survive fire in the pandemic, and find something to be thankful for on the other side?

Weddings and Such: After all the troubles and some years of peace, it really is time for everybody to get married. Has Jeremy come far enough along from his rabbit days to be the center of attention while his boy makes an honest man out of him?

Crocheting Hawks and Knitting Christmas Angels: Gideon Haze and Pippen Madison commit a near-tragic mistake, and everybody's favorite bunny is laid up for Christmas! Can the bodyguard and his vulnerable charge find a way to atone for their lapse in judgment and grow into the men who can make themselves and their new Granby family safe from Pippen's dangerous father?

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Killian Thornton likes his downtown life, tending bar, and enjoying time with his friends and community. He'd given up on passion long ago—he wasn't cut out for grand romance or dramatic gestures. Then one night, in a characteristic act of kindness, Killian offers his couch to help a friend's little brother find his feet in a new city, and everything Killian thought he knew about himself and his little life gets turned upside down.

Lewis Bernard, the funny, quirky guy happy to find a spot on Killian's couch, can’t believe his luck. After being forced to flee his parents’ house, he was afraid of what came next, but Sacramento seems to be treating him just fine. The stunningly handsome bartender who lives downstairs from his brother offers Lewis his couch and doesn’t even balk when Lewis discovers two abandoned kittens in a vacant lot as they walk home.

Vet bills, cat food bills, litter boxes—none of it was on Killian's Christmas agenda, but he jumps in gamely to help because all the shelters seem to be full, and that's just the kind of guy Killian is. But kittens can multiply faster than rabbits, and Killian and Lewis accidentally rescue more and more cats.

Lewis starts to panic. He really wants to know Killian better, but with each act of kindness, Lewis falls further in love while ruining Killian's life. How can Killian find time to fall in love with Lewis and ask him to stay if they’re inundated with destructive furry poop-machines who all seem to need a home before Christmas?

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When the last dragon in all the kingdoms, Pax, wakes from his centuries-long slumber, he seeks adventure again—by finding a worthy mortal to gift three scales which will grant three wishes. When the wishes are completed, he plans to move on and never return to the Gemstone Kingdoms. For now, he craves experience—and a new partner in his bed.

He chooses Bertram, the recently crowned Emerald King.

It's been thirty years since the Gemstone Kingdoms entered a new golden age, but the peace proves fragile. With opponents of magic reappearing, Bertram doesn’t know what to do… except to wish that he knew what the future might hold if he never became king.

Bertram and Pax embark on a journey through time, across kingdoms, and into their own hearts to learn what they’ve been missing and what they might want of a different future together.

Be careful what you wish for—especially from a dragon.

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