GENRE: LGBT Romance Anthology
LENGTH: 476 pages
RATING:

It’s hard to believe we have entered the year 2025 with so many of our civil liberties, which we fought so hard to achieve, now on the cusp of being taken away.

The political scene in the United States, as well as in many other countries, has become more polarized in recent years. In the aftermath of the US 2024 presidential election, many of us have found it difficult to express our fears and concerns. Regardless of nationality, the authors of JMS Books sought an outlet for their emotions; thus, this anthology of short stories was created.

Love Is Free celebrates queer love in all its forms, proving love can survive despite adversity. Whether a quiet night in or a loud night out, in this world or another, in the past, present, or future, this collection embraces how enduring same sex love can be, in any and every shade under the LGBTQIA umbrella.

Featuring never before published work from 52 authors, Love Is Free is a collaborative effort whose entire proceeds will go to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to help with their work protecting the freedoms of all people in the US. All the work in the collection, including the editing, has been donated. This stunning anthology will be a charitable keepsake whose message of love regardless of gender will endure beyond the current political strife threatening to tear us apart.

Authors included in this anthology are: Adam Carpenter, Alexandra Caluen, Amy Spector, Anne Russo, Becky Black, Carol Holland March, Charles Payseur, D.J. Fronimos and Elke Lakey, David Connor and E.F. Mulder, Dianne Hartsock, Drew Hunt, E.M. Schenker, Ellie Thomas, Emery C. Walters, Eule Grey, Feral Sephrian, Gareth Vaughn, Gordon Phillips, Hannah Morse, Holly Day, J.D. Walker, J.M. Snyder, J.T. Marie, Jordan Demaine, Justin James, K.L. Noone, K.S. Murphy, Katey Hawthorne, Kim Davis, Kris T. Bethke, La Toya Hankins, Mere Rain, Michael P. Thomas, Mychael Black, Nell Iris, Ofelia Gränd, Pat Henshaw, Patrick Bryce Wright, Pelaam, Rafe Jadison, Ray Hatch, Red Haircrow, Sarah Hadley Brook, Scarlet Blackwell, Sean Cunningham, Shawn Bailey, Shawn Lane, T.J. Blackley, T.K. Dane, Teal H.S. Fields, Vivien Dean, and Warren Rochelle.

EXCERPT FROM "Another Time" by Ray Hatch:

Today, in 2045

Isaac Bates pulls his attention from memory to concentrate on the two younger people sitting in his living room. Pushing a hand through the graying temple of his wavy, dark hair, Isaac suppresses a sigh. “Sorry, Emma, what were you saying?” he asks, noticing they both look oddly uncomfortable against the green, painted pattern of the 18th century Swedish sofa. Then he reminds himself that no one has ever been comfortable on anything from the 1700s.

Emma offers him a tentative smile. “I said thank you again for talking with us. I know it wasn’t an easy time to remember.” With her vivid red hair and expressive blue eyes, Emma so resembles her mother -- his sister, Becks -- that he rarely denies her any request. For a moment, Issac considers inviting them into the study. Encasing the three of them in warm browns and the sprawling collection of books would provide a more proper setting for the history lesson requested of him.

Then the person sitting next to Emma pipes up, “You do know the mental capacity of males actually decreases at a more rapid pace once they reach the last portion of their lifespan?”

Isaac immediately decides this one can endure Neoclassic discomfort in the living room a little longer. “You do know I’m forty-nine, not eighty-nine, right?” As they lift an unimpressed eyebrow over wire-thin glasses in response, Isaac mutters, “Perhaps this conversation will edge me closer to mental incapacity.”

“Uncle Isaac, Kell is studying the genetics behind gender neutrality,” Emma says softly, though Isaac merely responds with a withering glance, projecting the idea that science is no excuse for rudeness.

“Yes, I concentrate on two of the eight recognized genetic markers that eventually develop into a sense of gender over several years.” Kell’s eyes narrow slightly. “I’m sure you will agree it surpasses the previous method of pulling a baby out and looking to see if anything small flaps around.”

“Not all of them are small, dear,” Isaac responds with a tight smile. Emma coughs to cover a laugh as Kell tilts their head in apparent confusion. “May I offer a word of advice, Kell? Do try not to discuss a person’s size, and that includes a female-identifying’s body shape, or a male-identifying’s ... parts. It can be considered uncouth.”

With a lifetime of experience dealing with her uncle, Emma bites back a small smile. “Kell and I are co-authoring a paper about the emergence of infant gender neutrality as the medical norm. It dates to the emergence of Rainbow Resistance.”

Turning back to his niece, he offers kindly, “My dear, I know people tend to romanticize the past, but I can assure you I had very little to do with anything in the medical field. I was a corporate drone.”

Kell injects, “I don’t need history. I need to comprehend the emotional atmosphere of the time.” They pause before adding carefully, “I can’t quite parse out emotions, feelings ...”

Taking in Emma’s protective glance, Issac relaxes his tensed shoulders. In Issac’s youth, Kell would’ve probably carried the label neurodivergent. Thankfully, people abandoned the idea of mental paths diverging from an estimated norm long ago. He rather likes the current term left hemisphere heavy, or left hem.

Drumming fingers on his chair, Isaac asks, “Kell, do you enjoy spending time with Emma?”

The head tilt of confusion returns. “Please explain,” they say.

Isaac tries again. “Does the prospect of being near Emma cause you tension?”

Kell shakes their head immediately “No, quite the opposite. I feel a sense of ease, an absence of worry that I will say something incorrect.”

The blush slowly making its way across Emma’s cheeks provides Isaac another insight his sister will undoubtably wheedle out of him. “All right,” he says. “Now imagine someone telling you that Emma is fundamentally flawed. That she is broken in some way, or that you need to discard her friendship.”

Their back stiffens as Kell answers, “I would argue their logic is flawed.”

Nodding, Isaac continues, “What if it was not based in logic, but in fear and prejudice? And you could not dissuade them?”

As if on impulse, Kell tucks their hands under their legs on the couch. “I would be upset.”

“And if they tried to tell you that you could no longer be in Emma’s presence?”

Kell’s hands curl into fists against the upholstery. “I would be angry.”

Isaac leans back in his chair. “Yes. Now you understand how the Rainbow Resistance got its start.”