STRANDEDDEFINITION: adjective•(of a boat, sailor, or sea creature) left aground on a shore."a stranded whale"•left without the means to move from somewhere."he offers a lift to a stranded commuter"###The boys in this collection of short stories have most definitely been left STRANDED!They’ve been shipwrecked and abandoned.Marooned and cast away.And left helpless and high and dry.But you should never underestimate the tenacity of the human heart…STORIES INCLUDED:CRAVING STAINS Alina Popescu...

If Chad is reticent to drop in on Dr. Fortescue's big annual holiday bash without a date, imagine his horror when he arrives to discover the party revolves around a city-wide scavenger hunt with a two-to-a-team policy stricter than Noah's. Worse, his efforts to pair up with his hunky doctor crush are thwarted, and he winds up being assigned the doofus with an elbow in the punch bowl as a partner.It turns out scavenger hunts are hard -- were they really supposed to dognap the doctor...

When Bridger Bradford chases the wrong guy to South Korea, he falls in love ... with his fantasies about Kai, a model whose handsome mug is splashed across every subway station and bus shelter in the country.Kai has a big career and big money, but what he really wants is a shot at big, blond Bridger, who can't believe his luck when the man of his dreams seemingly walks out of the stack of souvenir magazines and right up to him in his favorite San Francisco bar.

Suhaib isn't a big believer in barriers. Whether he's skinny-dipping on the clock at his hotel job or spilling uncensored details of his life story just to make conversation, he is who he is and he doesn't care who knows it.Elijah plays his hand a little closer to the vest, and Suhaib can't get his head around Elijah's reckless plan to drive through the worst blizzard to hit Oklahoma since statehood just to meet his sister's new baby.When the storm that brought them togethe...

Since he first laid eyes on Michael Phelps as a teenager, young Beau has longed to be an Olympian; the better to sleep with as many other Olympians as possible. Too bad he's a flop at every sport he tries.An offhand reference by his European mother reveals a family connection to the world of competitive shooting, and a quick -- if not wholly truthful -- email nets Beau an invitation to Luxembourg to train with Marcel, a dashing rifle champion. He jumps at the chance, and, when he l...

Unassuming music major Brent Callahan has the crush of a lifetime on frat boy George Cortner. When the opportunity to offer George a ride home for the holidays crops up, Brent has to dig deep for the nerve to seize it. He'd been planning on hanging around campus for Christmas, but George doesn't need to know that.They're on the road before Brent's even sure he'll be able to keep his hands to himself with George in such close quarters. Not that George has asked him to ...

Henry Kavalauskas spends most of his time at YVR, Vancouver's international airport. He works there, he hangs out there -- he knows the world is bigger than his fast-food job and his parents' living room, and he wishes he could find a guy to take him out into it. Someone to shepherd him through its teeming cities and sleep beside him in its fine hotels.Someone like Zack Hoffman, to be quite specific, although Henry's first encounter with the short, sexy business traveler seems dest...

Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney -- these exciting cities are standard fare in the life of flight attendant Todd Eisenbraun, and he chases a romance with sexy-but-straight Josh through them all.Closer to home, a new neighbor in his San Francisco apartment building has a huge crush on Todd. His friends -- Katie, a flight attendant-turned-small appliance repairwoman, and Marzipan Q. Thespian, a man-dangling local philanthropist -- think Todd should at least give Chris a shot. Sure, he's overwe...

Fox McHardy leads a charmed life. Puget Sound penthouse, gorgeous boyfriend, jet-setting job -- everything he's ever wanted, he's gotten, including the heck out of the small Iowa town he grew up in. Even the trip he takes to Miami to surprise his boyfriend Jeremy is something of a long-shot wish fulfilled.Until he arrives in South Florida.Once things start to unravel, they do so with alarming speed, and he finds himself riding shotgun in a rented convertible with his new sw...

When Richard is invited to join Colin for Christmas in Cancun, he's on the next flight out of Winnipeg faster than you can say Feliz Navidad. He'll take sun and sand over shoveling snow any day, but more importantly, he believes the invitation as an obvious sign Colin has at last chosen him over his rival Joaquin. Now they can get on with the business of being a couple.But life with Colin is full of surprises. Not only has he also invited Joaquin to Cancun, but he's hatche...

Loving Ruben Pacheco is easy. He's sweet, he's supportive, he keeps the bills paid and plenty of food on the table. Loving living with Ruben's parents presents more of a challenge. They're critical, overbearing, and openly rooting for Gabe to go home so Ruben might crawl back into the closet.Gabe's in love, but he's getting annoyed -- Ruben's great and all, but is he worth all the hassle?Note: This short story was originally published in the charity collection, Love Is ...

Jesse Cisneros and his best buddy Tanner fly for Mile High Airlines, which is every bit as classy as it sounds. When Dr. Willis rings his call light on a flight from New York to Denver, Jesse is so taken with the good doctor's looks and charm, he forgets all about the inflight medical crisis that prompted him to call for a flight attendant in the first place. Willis is handsome. Willis is helpful. And wouldn't you know it? Willis is someone else's husband.Jesse can hardly believe h...