GENRE: Gay Fantasy Spicy Romance Anthology
LENGTH: 212 pages
RATING:

An immersive video game tester finds his latest assignment is all too real. A pair of fairy tale conmen meet their match. A trickster god discovers the joke might be on him where love is concerned. A giant with a human infestation in his cloud castle can’t keep his eyes off the exterminator. These ten stories span genres while consistently lingering on high adventure and sizzling romance.

Contains the stories:

Riding Red: Big and Red are conmen and lovers a bit down on their luck when they learn of an easy mark, a rich old woman who lives alone in the woods. Things get complicated, though, when they find Jack, a trickster himself, already on the scene. And when it turns out the little old woman is running a con of her own, all bets are off and the fur, and clothing, will fly as everyone scrambles to survive.

Beta Tester: Noah is a tester of immersive video games, and one of the best, though his personality makes him rather difficult to work with. In fact, his only friend (and serious crush) is his manager, Malik, and when Noah suspects that Mal has been working with someone else, he crosses a line that could ruin even that. Can Noah level up his game and show Malik how he feels, or will it be game over for them?

Questing: Given immortality thanks to a sip from the Holy Grail, Lancelot and Palomides are rivals in the Game, a series of world-spanning quests worth points to the knights to complete them. But when they join forces to track down a lost legend, Lancelot finds his attention isn’t on the quest so much as it’s on Palomides. Can he keep his mind in the Game, or is there another way he’ll end up scoring?

Taste of the Forest, Dark and Sweet: Bastian's kitchen, normally his sanctuary, has become anything but since Colin began working with him. There's just something distracting about the line chef that Bastian is drawn to. But when a series of disasters draw Bastian into a magical world he never knew existed -- a world Colin is part of -- will attraction and amazing food be enough to overcome the barriers keeping the two men apart?

A Friendly Ghostbusting: When Cas, known to the internet as paranormal vlogger Caspar the Friendly Ghostbuster, arrives at a shuttered psychiatric prison slated for demolition, he finds that he’s not the only one investigating. Can he contain his own stubborn attraction around his friend-turned-rival, Yasahiro, and be the first to get footage of supernatural activity? Or will the ghost hunters become the ghost hunted?

Luc Orphelin and the Hodag of Rhinelander: For the great (and dapper) detective Luc Orphelin, getting sent out to the Northwoods of Wisconsin seems a punishment, but needs must your specialty is supernatural mysteries like monster sightings at a remote logging camp. Can he find the truth and deal with a devilishly attractive monster hunter at the same time, or will he end up the next victim of the fiendish hodag of Rhinelander?

Fieldwork: Agent Ignacio Ritter is happy serving the CXO from the safety of his desk. Ever since his parents died in the field, danger is the last thing he wants to be a part of. At least, until the charming and dangerous tiger-shifter Agent Reed Daily chooses Ignacio to help close the book on the gang responsible for his parents’ deaths. Faced with his greatest fears, will he prove himself man or ...

Trickster69: April Fool's Day is like Christmas for Loki, god of mischief, and this year he's planned something grand: humiliating the noble Thor by provoking his wrath among a town of unwitting mortals. Even Norse gods can surprise each other, though, and when Thor lets slip that he might have feelings for a certain devious trickster, Loki's plans take a sudden, and sexy, turn.

The Assistant's Contraption: Rascan, world-renowned inventor (or so he likes to think), is worried. His normally diligent and obedient assistant, Friday, has been hiding something from him. When he breaks into Friday’s rooms to find out what, though, what he discovery will fundamentally change his relationship with Friday, but will it push the two men apart forever, or bring them together in a steamy new partnership?

A Giant Problem: Ben’s cloud-based castle has been invaded. By humans. And though he’s a giant, a human infestation is nothing he wants to be a part of. He’s not expecting the exterminator to be quite so hot, though. Or funny. Or kind. But Drake is all of those, and with the humans proving more persistent than expected, and Ben and Drake’s flirting turning into something serious, Ben’s problems seem giant indeed.

EXCERPT FROM "Riding Red"
Note: may contain sexually explicit scenes of a homoerotic nature.

"Ah," Esmeralda said, and shrugged. "That would explain it then. And these cookies are for me?" She reached into the basket and pulled out a chocolate chip cookie. Red nodded.

"Anyway," Jack said, "I'm sure that the shock of learning that you have an entire family to acquaint yourself with is a bit overwhelming. If you tell us where me and Sonya here can rest our feet after our long journey to find you, we'll give you some time to adjust."

Esmeralda continued looking at the cookie before nodding and motioning toward a hallway leading away from the large sitting room.

"Down there, first two doors on the left," she said, not taking her eyes off the baked good, and Red and Jack shared a confused expression before shrugging and making their escape.

They both stepped into the first room and immediately Jack shut the door with an angry grunt.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, and Red sighed, crossed the room and sat heavily on the bed.

"What am I doing?" Red asked. "I think it should be obvious, as you seem to be doing the same thing."

Jack opened his mouth, closed it, ran a hand through his hair, then plastered on a winning smile.

"I'm sorry, I think we got off on the wrong foot," he said and slid closer, licking his lips slowly as his eyes ran up and down Red's body. "I'm Jack."

Red wanted to laugh, part because Jack obviously had no clue who he was dealing with and because Big's plan had completely backfired. Instead of making him less threatening to an old woman, the dress seemed to have succeeded only in making him more attractive to this conman. Not that Jack was bad looking. His smile was roguish, and his body looked tightly muscled, probably from a life of running away from bad situations. He wasn't as tall as Big, or as wide, but he did look like he knew how to have a good time, as long as Red kept an eye on his valuables the entire time.

"You used your real name?" Red asked, not quite willing to give his own. Rule one in deception was never giving your real name, but Jack only laughed at the question.

"Of course," he said. "I'm kind of a big deal, after all." He struck a pose as if that action alone would cause Red to recognize him. A dejected look crossed Jack's face. "Come on, you've never heard of Jack and the Beanstalk? Jack the Giant Slayer? Jack of Hearts? Jack-of-all-trades?"

Red squinted. Of course he had heard all those names before. But to think that the man behind him was the Jack was ridiculous. No man could be all those Jacks.

"Really?" was all Red asked, though, and Jack gave a devilish grin.

"Also Jack the sex machine, if you listen to the right stories." Jack kept approaching, and Red stood so he couldn't be trapped on the bed. He retreated toward the room's fireplace.

"Uh huh," Red said. "Sure."

"You know you're cute when you're dubious?" Jack said, still gliding closer.

Red huffed and grabbed the hem of his dress, saw Jack's eyes light up as he pulled it up, revealing his thighs and further still, until the fabric revealed his undergarment and, more importantly, his obvious bulge within it.

"You can drop the act, okay?" Red said, enjoying the look of surprise on Jack's face, the shock. The ... desire? Red gaped as Jack licked his lips.

"It's a nice look on you," Jack said, and Red growled even as a noise from the window across the room caused them both to turn and see Big's confused face taking in the scene.

"What the hell is going on here?" Big asked as Red's face flushed a deep scarlet.