Fresh out of college with a chemistry degree, Tim Ratliff’s desperate to move out on his own. He yearns for his own home, his own rules, and the freedom to find the kind of man he’s always dreamed of for his first time. Tim’s applied at every laboratory he can find, but his job search is coming up crickets.Monument Pharma would be his dream job, and Lorraine in Human Resources swears he’s a shoo-in to be hired. Wonderful, except that’s the one job he dare not take.At thirty...

A bear walked into a bar—and found a family.The Urso of Ballantine Mountain intended to run a ragtag bunch of shifters out of his territory. Instead, Sawyer Ballantine found his mate. Once the lone bear on the mountain, now Sawyer shares his life and bed with Dillon Lawson, who’s still learning how to be a proper bear. Sawyer tells the stories of the First Bears, from whom all other bear shifters descended, but how did two male bears become the fathers of many?The varied sh...

The new doctor in town, Keith Hoyer has to relinquish care of his new patient, veterinarian Dante James, to privately treat their mutual cases of incurable attraction and terminal romance, complicated with relapsing lust.Their backgrounds are different, their practices accidentally overlap, and their pasts have some hidden traps to negotiate. A fat, injured tabby cat, a truth-extracting, wounded dog, and a teen with a heartbreaking secret need Keith and Dante’s help. Every patient,...

“Say hi to Doug at the car show.” Just because Keith is a good pal, has good intentions and has great taste in men doesn’t mean Terry wants his own personal matchmaker. With his luck and past experience, he and the man Keith set him up with would hate each other on sight. Besides, Terry can’t look for the elusive Doug: he’s too busy ogling a certain gorgeous 1949 MG TC.The sleek roadster stands out even among a field of classic beauties, and so does the driver. Is it too much to as...

Close enough to touch, and still out of reach—Evan rings the PriceCo pharmacy register for Brent and keeps his thoughts about the pharmacist to himself. He dies a little inside every time he sees Brent with Tyler—why does Brent let that jerk treat him like dirt?After one humiliation too many, Brent’s asking himself that same question. He has a better chance of teaching a cat to sit and stay than of convincing handsome, self-centered Tyler to be thoughtful. It’s time to be single ag...

Joshua Hannes, the concierge of the Vivaldi Central Park Hotel prides himself on fulfilling every impossible request. Tickets to a sold-out show? A purple dye job for a purse dog? A last-minute table at a premier hotspot? No problem.But the penthouse guest wants what?Self-made billionaire Craig Ridley’s in New York on business, but at the end of the day, he wants to relax with someone interesting. The concierge should be able to supply an entertaining companion. Just for a ...

Exhausted after eating his way through the local cuisines in the back of beyond, celebrity chef Jude Marshall ditches his camera crew during a London layover. He’s ready for a beer and plain, familiar food, the sort a random pub could provide. What’s this artfully presented dish where plain pea soup should be? Parsley chiffonade? Really? Demonstrating his lack of a brain to mouth filter earns him a glower from his server—and a visit from chef Tommy Bell, a fan of both Jude’s show and his c...

Fiction without boundaries celebrates the nascent spring in this issue full of adventure, romance, and fantasy. Enjoy works from short stories to a generous novella as you while away your long moments of social separation during a global pandemic. All positive stories, all happy endings.In this issue:RUSALKA (Kate Pavelle) – Stella Vodnansky’s coming of age ceremony should’ve taken place when she was sixteen. She failed, then failed again. Now at twenty-two, she’d rather dr...

Fresh powder snow and running water in the Colorado backcountry call Lon like the moon calls the wolves. Belly-sliding to a good time on the weekends makes up for a workweek at a desk, and meeting Corey adds a whole new level of fun to snowboarding.It’s easy to slip away for time alone in the woods without raising suspicion, but how’s Lon to entertain himself when bad snow and a worse spill force them off the mountain too early?Never give an otter a box of Cheerios.

Dr. Keith Hoyer has lost patients before but never like this, not at sixteen and not by intent. Certain that he could have prevented the tragedy with some word or deed that he left unsaid or undone, Keith is desperate for a way to redeem his failure.If Keith’s going to practice medicine in a Third World country, his lover, veterinarian Dante James, needs time to sell the practice and brush up on diseases of goats. “Whither thou goest, I go,” Dante tells Keith, but where will those ...

Kurt Carlson gave up the great outdoors for city life while his lover Jake pursued a pharmacology degree. Graduation and a white lab coat will bring status, a great job, and a decent salary. Jake will go from eating ramen in their shoebox apartment to rubbing elbows with handsome doctors. He couldn't possibly still want a ski bum and part-time forest ranger for a partner.Just when Kurt feels their time is coming to an end, he comes home to something he least expects. And really nee...

New single doctor in town, Keith Hoyer, gets plenty of interest, but is it for himself, the M.D.after his name, or what they think is in his wallet? The patients, of course, are strictly off limits. Each night he goes home to his big, gray tabby cat, Harpo, and unfulfilled dreams.Then he opens the door to his exam room to find hunky veterinarian Dante James, with whom he’d rather play doctor than treat professionally. Too shy to approach the man, Keith needs Harpo to play matchmake...