Amy Lane

A Special Project by Dreamspinner Press & ManLoveRomance Press. Edited by Kris Jacen. How much impact can someone have on your life if you've never met them face to face? In this electronic age of E-mails, electronic publishing, and social networks, quite a lot. Through his emails, stories and blog, author Patric Michael has touched numerous hearts, minds and lives from the start of his career and further as he now takes us along on his journey to battle cancer. Along the way, Patric shows us a side of life that not many truly see-- how we are all a part of something larger than just ourselves, and how we are each touched by others for the betterment of all. Now, those that have been touched by Patric and his words have joined together to give something back, to him and to us all through something he values highly – words. In this compilation, gay short stories, poems, and anecdotes combined with excerpts from Patric's blog and a few entertaining, educational group posts reveal, and celebrate, the man who has touched so many hearts and minds. This collection, sometimes erotic, sometimes irreverent, and always poignant, is a gift from all our hearts to celebrate Patric and give strength (and a little levity) to others. The price reflects this; no one is receiving royalties or payment from the sales. Use it to celebrate life, celebrate words, and possibly inspire someone who needs it.

Keeping Promise Rock: Book Two All Shane Perkins ever wanted to be was a hero. But after a career-shattering decision to go down fighting, Shane comes home from the hospital to four empty walls, a pile of money, and a burning desire for someone to miss him the next time he gets hurt in the line of duty. He ends up an officer in the small town of Levee Oaks, and, addicted to the promise of family, he makes an effort to reconcile with his flighty, troubled sister. Kimmy makes her living as a dancer, and her partner steals Shane's breath at first sight. Mikhail Vasilyovitch Bayul dances like an angel, but his past is less than heavenly. Since he left Russia, he's made only two promises: to stay off the streets and stay clean, and to take his mother someplace beautiful before she dies. Making promises to anybody else is completely out of the question—but then, Mikhail has never met anybody like Shane. Earnest, brave, and self-deprecating, Shane seems to speak Mikhail's language, and no one is more surprised than Mikhail to find that keeping promises is Shane's best talent of all.

Keeping Promise Rock: Book One Carrick Francis has spent most of his life jumping into trouble with both feet. The only thing saving him from prison or worse is his absolute devotion to Deacon Winters. Deacon was Crick's sanity and salvation during a miserable, abusive childhood, and Crick would do anything to stay with him forever. So when Deacon's father dies, Crick puts his college plans on hold to help Deacon as Deacon has helped him. Deacon's greatest wish is to see Crick escape his memories and the town they grew up in so Crick can enjoy a shining future. But after two years of growing feelings and temptation, the painfully shy Deacon finally succumbs to Crick's determined advances and admits he sees himself as part of Crick's life. It nearly destroys Deacon when he discovers Crick has been waiting for him to push him away, just like Crick's family did in the past. When Crick's knack for volatile decisions lands him far away from home, Deacon is left, shell-shocked and alone, struggling to reforge his heart in a world where love with Crick is a promise, but by no means a certainty.

Isaac and Luca start an unlikely friendship over a knitted sweater that grows into more, but both men need to straighten out their own lives before they can start anything real. The advent of a catnip-addicted orange kitty pushes Isaac to start building a life that's uniquely his own. With a little bit of growing and some help from Euclid, Luca and Isaac learn that something real is what you make of it, and with a little bit of elbow grease, the possibilities are as sturdy and as beautiful as their wildest dreams.

Milo Tanaka was not recovering from the mother of all breakups when his best friend barged into his home and gave him a dog. While Julia the dog doesn't like squirrels, cats, turkeys, other dogs, or most humans, at least she gets him out of bed. When a tiny blond dog rockets out of nowhere to bark ferociously at Garth Potter's enormous Daniff, "the Chad," Garth is annoyed, but Chad simply woofs in Julia's face. But when Garth looks around for her irresponsible owner, he finds a fey panicky disaster desperately trying to keep his dog from getting eaten, and realizes Milo is simply new to dog ownership, not neglectful or cruel. In fact, Milo is a truly decent guy, and he and his best friend have been struggling to find their footing in adulthood and relationships. As Garth befriends Milo and the irascible Julia, he finds himself entangled in Milo's broken heart and fractured life. As much as Garth wants to fix it, he knows that Milo has to fix it himself. With the holidays approaching, Milo realizes that a good relationship won't leave him isolated and afraid, but surrounded with friends, and that the key to thriving isn't just chasing the turkeys out of his life--it's letting a good man in.

Val Royal's tight family has always had his back, but they love to interfere in his life. That interference almost sends him over the edge when they arrange for Rory McCauley, security specialist, marksman, and hound-dog smartass, to ride shotgun as security on his latest run. Hot, bossy, and sharp as a tack, Val ticks all Rory's boxes, but Val's looking for something real, and Rory's allergic to intimacy. Besides, their gig running refrigerated bull semen from Bakersfield to Austin could make or break Val's buddy's ranch, so Val's understandably pretty focused on the job. Rory still wishes Val would let him help Val, uh, ***relax.*** As Val and Rory work to keep their payload safe from a couple of determined saboteurs and they get to know each other as smart, competent, fearless professionals, sparks fly, and Val starts to fall for Rory's roguish charm. But can he convince Rory their romance would be worth more than a straight shot to Austin--that it would be a love worth coming home to?

Guthrie's a snakebit musician with a runaway heart. Can Tad convince his wandering minstrel to settle down?

Lernt Patrick Cleary kennen: Nachtschwärmer, Versager, Spastiker. Patrick versucht verzweifelt, sich zu ändern. Das Ergebnis ist so eindrucksvoll, dass es ihn fast umbringt. Lernt Wes „Whiskey" Keenan kennen: Ein Biologe auf Dauer-Exkursion, der sich fragt, wann es wohl Zeit wird, sesshaft zu werden. Als der schlimmste Tag in Patricks Leben damit endet, dass Whiskey ihm das Leben rettet, fangen die beiden an, ihr Leben und eine winzig kleine Koje in dem heruntergekommensten Hausboot, das die Welt je gesehen hat, zu teilen. Patrick will sein Leben auf die Reihe bekommen und Whiskey will ihm dabei helfen. Doch Patrick ist sich nicht sicher, ob das überhaupt möglich ist. Er ist davon überzeugt, dass er eine Anomalie der Natur ist. Aber Whiskey, der mit echten Anomalien arbeitet, glaubt, dass alles, was Patrick braucht, ein klein wenig Hilfe ist, um die Schönheit unter seiner spastischen Hülle zu sehen, und Whiskey bietet sich gerne dafür an. Zwischen ungewöhnlichen Fröschen, einem lebensbedrohlichen Ex-Freund und Patricks eigenen Blockaden, benötigt Whiskey seine gesamte Geduld, damit Patrick das Gute in sich findet, bevor die beiden in klarem Wasser schwimmen können.

Amy Lane’s Fish Out of Water universe has expanded to include garage mechanics, assassins, nurses, psychics, and adult film stars. Many of them forged a safe, hidden haven in Victoriana--the middle of the desert. This collection of shorts revolves mostly around the Victoriana crew—the desert Fish, a group of people with specialized skills, a strong moral code, and an aversion to the rules. Join Burton, Ernie, Ace, Sonny, Jai, and George as they deal with impossible storms, visiting assassins, and—oh yeah—the in-laws, in this series of novellas that shows that being a Fish in the desert isn’t always easy, but a desert fish can always find a home.

Torrance Grayson has forged a solid independent journalism career with help from his friend and mentor, Felix Salinger, and he's relished being the face of the Salinger crew, exposing the corruption of the powerful while keeping his friends safe in their anonymity. But being face to face with the worst in the world takes its toll, and when Tor has a moment of weakness, it's the Salingers who come to bail him out. During his recovery, Tor makes friends with the household's confident, charismatic young chef, Marco. Their quiet conversations make Marco more and more reluctant to confront Tor on the grave mistake the man is about to make in his current exposÉ—a mistake that can harm Marco's loud, boisterous family irrecoverably. Tor is more than willing to listen—and to correct any mistakes. He's seen graphic proof that he's not infallible, and he'll go to any lengths to avert tragedy. But as Tor works toward the truth of what's happening with Marco's family, Marco begins to develop deep suspicions about the people they both work for. Torrance Grayson is in deep with the Salingers, and Marco isn't sure he should know any more than necessary about people who seem to be great bosses but shady citizens. In order to help Marco, Tor needs to trust him—and that means to trust him with the truth of the Salinger Crew, as well as with his heart. But in a world of capers and crimefighting, trust, it appears, is worth more than gold and jewels. Tor can expose crime and injustice with impunity, but can he expose his heart to Marco, a man who desperately wants in?

Larx and Aaron have faced a lot together—small-town prejudice, work injuries, and pregnant daughters. But finally two of their teenagers have graduated and Larx is making moves to lessen his workload in anticipation of Aaron being elected sheriff in the fall. Maybe, just maybe, they can start planning the wedding they’ve longed to have. Then a student goes missing and Aaron’s mentor takes a bullet during the search. Larx and Aaron backburner their plans and jump into what they do best—taking care of their people. They don’t expect to be the ones who end up in danger. While Larx and Aaron struggle to get out of their perilous situation, their family is galvanized into action. Just like Larx and Aaron’s relationship, their rescue is going to take hard work, ingenuity, and a solid sense of humor, but the people whose lives they’ve touched are up for the job. Nobody will rest until Larx and Aaron are safe and sound—and ready to ride off into the sunset toward the beginning of the rest of their lives.

Torrance Grayson has forged a solid independent journalism career with help from his friend and mentor, Felix Salinger, and he's relished being the face of the Salinger crew, exposing the corruption of the powerful while keeping his friends safe in their anonymity. But being face to face with the worst in the world takes its toll, and when Tor has a moment of weakness, it's the Salingers who come to bail him out. During his recovery, Tor makes friends with the household's confident, charismatic young chef, Marco. Their quiet conversations make Marco more and more reluctant to confront Tor on the grave mistake the man is about to make in his current exposÉ—a mistake that can harm Marco's loud, boisterous family irrecoverably. Tor is more than willing to listen—and to correct any mistakes. He's seen graphic proof that he's not infallible, and he'll go to any lengths to avert tragedy. But as Tor works toward the truth of what's happening with Marco's family, Marco begins to develop deep suspicions about the people they both work for. Torrance Grayson is in deep with the Salingers, and Marco isn't sure he should know any more than necessary about people who seem to be great bosses but shady citizens. In order to help Marco, Tor needs to trust him—and that means to trust him with the truth of the Salinger Crew, as well as with his heart. But in a world of capers and crimefighting, trust, it appears, is worth more than gold and jewels. Tor can expose crime and injustice with impunity, but can he expose his heart to Marco, a man who desperately wants in?

Welcome back to the world of Granby, where the yarn is soft, the knitting is fine, and the critters are never far off.... After the happy ever after of Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny's Lair, Jeremy and Aiden continued to be fan favorites, and author Amy Lane visited them from time to time in a series of whimsical shorts that were posted on her blog and Patreon. Those shorts, together with a brand-new, never before seen Christmas novel featuring the entire Granby family, are gathered here in Weddings, Christmas, and Such, a collection of stories that show the good times in the bad, and the hope even in the darkness. Welcome back to the world of Granby—Jeremy, Aiden, Craw, Ben, Stanley, Johnny, Ariadne, Rory, and baby Persephone are all happy to see you again! In This Collection:The Gift of a Birthday: The folks at Craw's mill and shop have always knitted for each other's big holidays, but one person in their midst hasn't been entirely honest about his own birthday... Bunnies: Ariadne and Rory are going off on a much-needed vacation--are Jeremy and Aiden prepared for full-time childcare and all the hard questions it might entail? And the Mountains Should Crumble: Hard times have come to Granby--can Craw and his small patchwork family survive fire in the pandemic, and find something to be thankful for on the other side? Weddings and Such: After all the troubles and some years of peace, it really is time for everybody to get married. Has Jeremy come far enough along from his rabbit days to be the center of attention while his boy makes an honest man out of him? Crocheting Hawks and Knitting Christmas Angels: Gideon Haze and Pippen Madison commit a near-tragic mistake, and everybody's favorite bunny is laid up for Christmas! Can the bodyguard and his vulnerable charge find a way to atone for their lapse in judgment and grow into the men who can make themselves and their new Granby family safe from Pippen's dangerous father?