Release Day | 2022 Top Ten Gay Romance

December 31, 2022December 28, 2022 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 1 Comment

It’s release day! 🥳 Today, the 2022 Top Ten Gay Romance anthology is released, and The Ruby Tooth is in it 😁

It’s an anthology of the ten best-selling gay romance stories under 15k during 2022, so if you’re in the mood for short stories, give it a go!

I wrote The Ruby Tooth as part of a Naughty or Nice call where we were to pick one or the other. I cheated and had a little of both. The Ruby Tooth is a bar divided in two. The doormen are veritas, which means they can look into everyone’s soul and see if they’re good or bad people.

Ilya is sent to the good side and Ulric to the bad, but Ilya is Ulric’s mate. Ilya doesn’t believe him. He’s human and doesn’t believe in werewolves and other paranormal beings, at least not until he’s attacked by a vampire. Then having a crazy man claiming he’s a werewolf and your mate isn’t all that bad 😆

2022 Top Ten Gay Romance

2022toptengayromance 2022 Top Ten Gay Romance brings together the best-selling short stories published by JMS Books that year.

From first love to true love, from submission to sensual, from heat to sweet and everything in between, the couples in these stories are sure to keep you turning the pages as you fall in love with them.

With stories by Sarah Hadley Brook, Holly Day, Ofelia Gränd, Nell Iris, Hannah Morse, K.S. Murphy, K.L. Noone, Amy Spector, Ellie Thomas, and Tinnean, this head-over-heels collection goes beyond bedtime reading. Whether happily ever after or happy for now, there’s an ending for everyone in here!

Contains the stories:

Found in the Storm by Sarah Hadley Brook
The Wingman by Holly Day
The Ruby Tooth by Ofelia Gränd
Secrets on a Train by Nell Iris
Hatch by Hannah Morse
Trust with Glittering Eyes by K.S. Murphy
The Snails of Dun Nas by K.L. Noone
How to Cheat at Dirty Santa by Amy Spector
The Thrill of the Chase by Ellie Thomas
Twelve Desserts by Tinnean

Buy links:

Gay Romance Anthology: 119,567 words

JMS Books :: Amazon :: books2read.com/2022TopTenGayRomance

Bullies

Excerpt from The Ruby Tooth:

Ilya placed his glass on a table by the wall and pushed through the door to the kitchen. His heart was hammering as he took another few steps. What the hell was he doing? He should phone Vera and suggest they call it a night, or head out for pie. He had a sudden craving for apple pie.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” A woman glared at him. She had tattoos everywhere—hieroglyphs. He almost yelped.

“No, I know, and I’m sorry, but a woman is throwing up right in the middle of the dance floor and no one seems to care.”

She frowned then headed for the door. Ilya didn’t wait for her to turn around and tell him to come along, he darted through the kitchen. Someone else called after him, but he rushed through the brightly lit room and pushed open a door.

Stumbling, he was momentarily blinded by the change of light as he proceeded out into a shadowy room. His lungs shrank as his gaze swept over the people there. Most of them were men twice his size, and the women resembled the woman he’d met in the kitchen—tattoos and dramatic clothes.

Dress-up party. He pulled in a sigh of relief, and while he couldn’t say what they were dressed up as, it calmed his soul. There were two lumberjacks by the bar—wild beards, broad shoulders, and plaid shirts. He smiled and nodded toward them. The man behind the bar looked like someone you should avoid, but he wore a Santa hat, and Ilya’s shoulders dropped a fraction.

“Ilya!” Vera jumped to her feet by the table she was seated at, and Ilya might have imagined it, but he believed the lumberjacks growled. Maybe Vera had misunderstood the theme of the night.

In the more lit area of the club, everyone—or close to, at least—had been wearing Christmas costumes. Here Ilya tugged at his tunic, wishing it hid more of his tights-clad thighs.

Nervously, he touched the tip of his ears. They were pointed. Vera had gotten him elf ears and body glue. They looked surprisingly real, but now he wanted them off. This was not the place to have elf ears, he couldn’t say how he knew, but he wished he wore his normal clothes.

Vera called his name again, and several heads turned his way. He hunched his shoulders and hurried over to her table. She was with a dangerous-looking man—of course she was.

Ilya hesitated. His heart beat fast, but not in a wanting-to-get-away kind of way. No, he found himself taking a step in the man’s direction, wanting to be close to him.

He stopped himself before he embarrassed them all. “Hi.”

He waved his hand but regretted it when the man groaned. Vera frowned at the sound but pulled Ilya in for a hug.

There was a growl coming from nearby. Ilya jumped, then bent to search for a dog underneath the table.

“Strange. I could’ve sworn I heard a dog.” He focused on the man and almost jumped again. “Oh, cool contacts.” The man’s eyes were a glowing honey color. Ilya nervously offered his hand. “I’m Ilya.”

The man grunted and grabbed his hand. Ilya never wanted him to stop touching him. Then he became aware of Vera frowning at him and tried to pull back, but the man refused to let go. For a second, Ilya’s heart jumped to his throat. The man wasn’t hurting him, but the hold on his hand was tight.

“Excuse me.” He tried pulling again, and the man let go. Ilya forced himself to take a step back and focus on Vera. “So… erm… what the hell are you doing here?” He kept his hissing low and was somewhat discreet as he gestured around. The man Vera was with saw him, of course. Those honey eyes never left him.

“The goon at the door showed me in here.”

“They were so creepy! When I tried to search for you, they stopped me.”

“They?”

“Had to lie to the poor woman in the kitchen.” He shook his head regretfully, and the man chuckled at the same time as he buried his face in his hands. Ilya gave Vera a glance. The poor soul looked like he was having a breakdown.

Vera shrugged, so Ilya waved a hand and pretended the man wasn’t there. “Anyway, I was thinking…” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Let’s grab some pie!”

Vera groaned. “No. You’re getting wasted, we’re gonna get laid—” The growl sounded again, and Ilya stared at the man. It had sounded as if it came from him, but it couldn’t have. He bent and glanced under the table again—only legs. When he glanced up, the man was studying him.

“See anything you like?”

Ilya jerked. The tone was harsh, more growl than anything else. “Eh… no… I thought I heard a dog.”

“A dog? In a nightclub?”

Heat climbed Ilya’s cheeks. “Health regulations, of course. Didn’t think of that.” He nodded and a mix of a groan and a laugh escaped the man. Ilya looked at Vera again. Pie would be really nice now or to go home, slip on flannel bottoms, and curl up in front of the TV.

“Can we go? Please?”

“But we just got here.” Vera toyed with her glass.

“No. I’ve been here for an hour, if not more.” He didn’t think it had been more than an hour, but he was already exhausted. This many people and having rushed through the kitchen when he wasn’t supposed to be there. It took its toll.

“Pie?” Maybe she’d agree to go to a calmer place. Not that this part of the nightclub was noisy. The music and the chatter had been louder on the other side.

“No. We’re having a drink.”

Ilya groaned.

Wrap-Up Wednesday | December

December 28, 2022December 27, 2022 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

It’s Wrap-Up Wednesday time, and I have not been reading. A little, very little. I’ve reread some Shelly Laurenston (MF) because I was in the mood for some crazy, but other than that, I haven’t read much at all.

Smoke by Amy Spector

For all the creature and monster stories I’ve read throughout the years, I can’t remember ever having read one about a jinn. It’s a lovely story, and in true Spector form, there is some sneaking around an abandoned house, well in this case it’s an apartment, not a house, but damn, there is always sneaking around in Spector’s stories LOL It’s just to make me nervous, I swear 😆

Smoke Cover HalfSize Wyatt Calder is trapped—in a rundown neighborhood, in a dead-end job, by the endless string of trouble his brother drags to their door—and it seems he’s destined to slowly fade away within the aging walls of Picket House, longing for his best friend’s cousin. That is until his upstairs neighbor Abel Walters dies on the staircase just outside Wyatt’s door.

Saalik has spent most of his existence asleep and waiting for the next person to discover his bottle and claim their wishes. And the last four years playing prized possession to Abel Walters and spying on the downstairs neighbors. But he has a plan. And, like every plan worth planning, it has taken patience. But if life as a Jinn has taught Saalik nothing else, it’s taught him that.

When a break-in sends Wyatt out his second-story bedroom window and into his dead upstairs neighbor’s apartment, he finds more than a place to hide. He discovers a magical solution to all his troubles.

Or does he? Because really, when is life ever that simple?

https://books2read.com/SmokeSpector

A Christmas Engagement by Ellie Thomas

My plan as December started was to read a lot of holiday stories. It didn’t happen, but on Christmas Day, I woke with a kid next to me in the bed who’d been feeling poorly during the night, so I didn’t want to move and risk waking her by getting up, so I grabbed my phone, and I read A Christmas Engagement in one go. She woke up when I was on the last page, so perfect timing, and a little holiday feeling for me 🥰

A Christmas Engagement In 1805, Charles Denham’s comfortable life in Regency London with his long-term partner Avery Mallory is disrupted by the sudden death of his father. As the heir to a modest country estate in Gloucestershire, Charles returns home to care for his bereaved family and take up his new responsibilities.

Overwhelmed with grief, rather than leaning on Avery, Charles rejects his love and becomes fixed on the idea of taking a wife for reasons of family duty alone. With this plan in mind, during early winter, he travels the short distance to Bath only to find that Avery and his family have already arrived at the resort.

Will Charles follow through with his ill-conceived plan for a hasty betrothal by Christmas? Or will he come to his senses and resume his relationship with the nicest man in England?

https://books2read.com/AChristmasEngagement

The Long Way Home by Z.A. Maxfield

This is my re-read story of the month, and I’m disappointed. I remembered loving this, but now years after, I don’t feel the same way. You can read about why over at Holly’s blog where I talk about it.

The Long Way Home Ever since the accident that cost him his job on the Seattle police force, Kevin Quinn has been living with psychic abilities he refers to as the ‘gift that keeps on taking’. His attempts to use his talents to help the police have met with limited success. Yet, when teenage boys start going missing from the beach cities of Southern California, Kevin gets on a plane.

Connor Dougal has every reason to believe all psychics are fakes and charlatans. He’s still numb from the disappearance of his first love, a boy who went missing ten years earlier. Everything he aspires to is a direct result of that tragedy, even the acquisition of his detective shield. The irony of having to babysit Kevin Quinn is not lost on him.

These two suspicious men must develop trust and respect for one another to solve the case and, on the way, maybe fall in love.

https://books2read.com/TheLongWayHomeZA

Rainbow Advent Calendar 2022

Rainbow Advent Calendar

Every day there were new short stories in this advent calendar, and I had plans to read at least some of them. I read two… but ah well. They’re still up, so have a look if you’ve missed this.

Single Elves by Anna Martin

I got the feeling this was part of a series, and I was probably meant to have read the story before this one because I didn’t understand all that much. But there were elves and reindeer, so yay Christmas.

Read here!

What does an android do during the holidays? by Toshi Drake

This was cute! An android named Thomas who’s been working too hard and has to shut down right as he wants to play with his emotions.

Read it here!

That’s it, folks! I haven’t had the headspace to focus on reading, but I hope that will change soon because I miss it.

Guest Post | Willow Road

December 22, 2022December 22, 2022 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 3 Comments

Hello, everyone! I’m here as Holly today. I don’t know if you’re aware, but yesterday was Crossword Puzzle Day, and I wrote a story for it! Willow Road is a paranormal, fated mates, interspecies couple.

Jeremiah hasn’t left his house in over a decade, except when he has to go to the dentist. All other things he’d managed to solve. He works from home, his groceries are delivered to the door, and nowadays he cuts his own hair after that disastrous time when he had a hairdresser coming to his house.

He told the hairdresser about how he solved the crossword puzzle in the newspaper every day and how he needed to do it while she cut his hair to have something to focus on other than freaking out. She then went on and told the entire village, and that was when the ads started.

Someone is putting ads in the paper, encouraging people to ring his doorbell for one reason or other. Jeremiah has removed his doorbell, but it doesn’t help much.

Zeeb is a wolf shifter and the new chief of police. When he learns about the ads, he’s furious and goes to talk to Jeremiah. Never could he have guessed Jeremiah was his mate. He can’t have a human mate. No one will respect him if he mates a human.

So Zeeb plans to ignore the pull. Jeremiah is oblivious so that works in his favour. The problem? Someone is messing with his mate, and Zeeb will have heads rolling if it doesn’t stop right this minute.

It doesn’t stop right this minute. Of course, it doesn’t. It wouldn’t be much of a story if it did, would it? 😁

If you’re in the mood for some shifter fun, you can grab Willow Road over at Smashwords for 50% off till January 1st.

Willow Road

willowroad Jeremiah Pace hasn’t left his house in thirteen years. He doesn’t trust anyone, least of all shifters. School was a nightmare, and despite never interacting with anyone in the village, the bullying continues in his adult life. Someone is putting ads in the paper, encouraging people to drop by his house for one service or other, but Jeremiah never opens his door.

Zeeb Hemming is a lone wolf and the new chief of police. He’s only been in Stoneshade for six weeks when he learns about the ads and goes to knock on Jeremiah’s door. Not because of what today’s ad said, but to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Human or not, Jeremiah deserves to live life in peace. The moment Zeeb nears Jeremiah’s house, he knows he’s his mate. But he can’t have a human mate.

Jeremiah pleads with Zeeb not to stir anything up. Yes, the ads are bad, but things can always get worse. Zeeb is furious someone is mistreating his mate and is willing to skin anyone who has any connection to the ads alive. But how is he to convince Jeremiah to trust him when he talks to Zeeb through a gap in the window instead of opening the door to his house?

Buy links

Gay Paranormal Romance: 19,909 words

JMS Books :: Amazon :: books2read.com/WillowRoad

Excerpt:

Every muscle in Zeeb’s body tensed. The sight of Jeremiah punched him in the gut, the scent of him threatened to buckle his knees. He’d suspected when walking up to the house, and now when he could smell him, he was sure. He gritted his teeth not to let a howl fly over the sky. His. Jeremiah was his.

He cleared his throat to rid it of the worst of the growliness, but his eyes wouldn’t shift back to human, no matter how many times he tried to get them to.

“Jeremiah?” Zeeb did his best to ignore the pleading tone in his voice. He should have known. Should have understood. Never before had he stalked someone’s house unless they were a suspect, but he’d spent far more time hidden in the trees surrounding Jeremiah’s garden than he should have. There had been a pull, an invisible rubber band yanking him closer every time he’d tried to leave.

But it couldn’t be. Jeremiah was human. It wasn’t unheard of that shifters found their mates among humans, but… It wasn’t acceptable.

When Jeremiah nodded, Zeeb cursed himself mentally. He was here for a reason.

“I’m Zeeb Hemming, the new chief of police.”

Jeremiah’s eyes widened. “Chief? Am I in trouble?”

“No! No, you’re not in trouble. I only wanted to check on you.”

Jeremiah didn’t so much as move a muscle, so Zeeb continued. “I’m on my way to have a talk with whoever is working the ads department in the newspaper.”

Jeremiah had been pale when he’d opened the window. Now he turned the shade of a ghost. “No.”

“No? Why not?”

Jeremiah shook his head, his eyes wide, and Zeeb growled.

“Why? Do you know who it is who puts the ads in the paper?”

He shook his head again while edging away from the window.

Zeeb cursed. “Why don’t you want me to talk to them?”

“It’ll only make it worse. Hardly no one comes anymore. I lock all doors, and I don’t answer when anyone knocks.”

Zeeb studied him. The scent of fear wafting out through the tiny gap in the window made him want to tear open the door so he could get to Jeremiah. “Nothing will happen. I will put a stop to this.” Because Jeremiah was his and if someone so much as dared to look at him the wrong way, he’d gut them.

He winced at his thoughts. He couldn’t have a human mate. As chief of police, it was important people respected him, and no one ever would if he had a human mate.

It was a blessing Jeremiah appeared unaware of the connection. Zeeb could ignore it. He was strong and in control of his emotions. Had Jeremiah been a shifter, he’d known they were mates the second he met Zeeb. But he was human, so it wasn’t a problem. Though, if he’d been a shifter, it wouldn’t have been a problem either.

He growled, which had Jeremiah backing away from the window so fast, Zeeb feared he’d fall. Fuck. “I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

“Please don’t.” Jeremiah spoke so low he never would’ve caught it if his hearing hadn’t been as good as it was.

“It’s harassment.” And he would not have his colleagues laughing at his mate. He would not have strangers ring his doorbell—though the doorbell wasn’t functioning. Zeeb had tried it before he’d knocked.

“I’ll be back later to check—”

“No!” Jeremiah wrung his hands. “Please, don’t come back. I’m fine. No one’s been by today.”

Today. Had someone been by yesterday? He had, but he didn’t think Jeremiah was aware of it. Zeeb didn’t care what Jeremiah said. He’d get to the bottom of this. The ads had to stop or people would die. He might not be able to mate with Jeremiah, but he’d make sure he lived the best life he could, and the first step was to snarl at the person accepting the ads into the paper. The poor soul would remember Willow Road 1 and would make sure no ad with it mentioned would make it to print ever again.