Ba Tortuga

Connor Westin and Early Jericho have a comfortable, busy life in Denver. Connor is a lawyer who brings home the bacon and Early is a stay at home dad to their two young boys. Sure, Early is a cowboy at heart, but he loves their kids and as far as Connor is concerned they're happy in their suburban home. When Early inherits a ranch on the Western Slope of Colorado, neither is sure what they should do about it. That is until they visit, and Connor sees just how much it all means to his husband. Both men agree to uproot their family and take a shot at running the ranch together, but it takes time to shut down one life and start another. Early takes the boys to the ranch while Connor spends the summer in Denver to handle all the details of moving on. Between the long distance, the new responsibilities, and interference from a not so well meaning employee, Connor and Early have trouble staying connected. Will the ranch become the home they need it to be, or will it tear their family apart?

Charlotte Miller is tired of feeling like a failure. She may have gotten herself fired, her love life has imploded...so when she gets the call that the annual Summit Springs Christmas Bazaar, which helps support her family's farm, is in trouble, she heads home to try to save the day. Maybe her luck will change and she will be happier for the holidays. Too bad her car decides to break down on the way. Naomi "Lars" Beckett is too busy with the tree farm she runs and Christmastime to worry about a stranded hottie like Charlotte, but when they get snowed in together at an old cabin, she figures that's what she gets for trying to help. On the surface these two seem to have nothing in common, but opposites do attract, especially with the magic of the season, and they find they have more in common than they think. Once they're back in the crazy mix of family, well-meaning town folk, and trying to make things just right for Christmas though, will they be able to make something together that lasts longer than old wrapping paper and holiday leftovers? Christmas Bizarre is a small town, opposites attract, lesbian romance set in fictional Summit Springs, Colorado.

Maverick "Mackey" Keyes keeps the rodeo cowboys safe on his watch and he knows how to make his bullfighting team walk the line. He might be starting to feel his years, but he's a pro, and he's not afraid of anything that might happen on the arena floor. Sidney Scott knows how to go with the flow, so when his dream job passes him by, he grabs the chance to work the bull riding circuit as a TV producer. He's going to do the job right, traveling with the show, even if he hears some rumbling from the riders. Mackey and Sid butt heads more than once, but when it really counts, they manage to get on the same page. When Mackey is injured, Sid steps up to help, and things take a far more personal turn. They might have been able to ignore the growing attraction between them at work, but a long road trip over the Christmas holiday and time away from the other cowboys lets them find something together that neither of them expect, but both of them need. Cowboy Protection is an opposites attract, rodeo romance featuring a bullfighter and a corporate suit, with a side of holiday magic.

Winter Love knows how to give. He gave himself his own name after all, and he's given love to many young men who later moved on with someone they wanted more. Too many. So he's stopped putting himself out there to be hurt by the young little birds he prefers, though he does still enjoy going to the gentlemen's club where he has a membership. He's older, old-fashioned, eccentric, and content to be more about people watching these days. Harley McBride is new to New York City, having left his home in Texas for a more welcoming town. He's hard-working, friendly, and has a curious nature, which means he's having a great time meeting people. When his roommate takes him to an interesting new club, he decides to introduce himself to a man who is fascinating to him, even from across the room. Caught off-guard, Winter takes a chance in return, and asks Harley to let him make up Harley's dark eyes. Things begin to heat up, and the two of them connect in ways that neither of them could have anticipated. But Winter knows he needs to tread carefully, and Harley is used to being independent and handling things on his own. Will they be able to find a path that suits them both, or will their relationship stay simply sin deep? Sin Deep is set in The Cowboy and the Dom universe and features an opposites attract, May-December relationship.

Derek "Crash" Wheeler never really wanted to make detective. He was a good marine and a great beat cop, but now he has to deal with cases like the one that just landed in his lap. Multiple deaths. Probably a serial killer. And if that isn't bad enough, now he has a crazy ex-profiler calling and texting, acting like he knows exactly what's going on. Matthew Herrera has more than one clue about Derek's case. He worked on a serial murder case once that took everything away from him, and while the perpetrator went to jail, Matthew knows the case isn't over. This murderer likes to play games, and he doesn't work alone. Racing against time, Derek and Matthew have to learn to work together to solve this case, and they find they have a chemistry they can't deny, even if it feels selfish to indulge. People are dying out there, and it will take all their skills to work out this puzzle before it's too late, or before one of them becomes the next victim.

Playboy Tad Dawson dedicates his Saturday nights to looking for a strong man with the firm hand he craves at a certain sort of club in Austin. So when he heads out to his favorite neighborhood gay bar for a more casual Friday night, he's looking to drink, dance with his friends, and maybe have a little sexy fun on the side. Tad certainly doesn't expect to run into a man like Strait McMasters, a stunning, deep-voiced, stoic cowboy who seems to be everything Tad wants in one studly package. Billionaire Strait intends to have a drink in honor of a friend who passed away when he stops in at the bar, but he's not one to question his gut, and his instinct says that Tad, the young man with the unruly blond hair, is worth a second look. When their one-night stand turns into a several-day binge, Strait knows he's found something special, and he hopes to keep it. Tad is sure Strait can give him a stern look and a firm hand if only Tad can find the right way to tell him what he needs. Strait, meanwhile, isn't sure Tad is ready for what it means to be part of his life, which includes a private island and full-time security. Will they find a way to truly understand each other, or is this temptation short term? Temptation Ranch is part of the Beat the Heat Summer Reads Series.

You don't need the use of your eyes to see forever. After his head injury leaves him blind, professional bull rider Jason Scott can only think of one thing. He desperately needs to win the title in the big leagues of bull riding so he can retire and start a new life-one he can live with his best friend and lover, Andy Baxter. Andy-or Bax, as his friends call him-wants to keep Jason safe and alive, but he would never ask his man to be less than he is. With the help of their best friends, they start out on a path that will lead them back to the major events and to a deception that might lose them all their jobs. There's no way the league officials would let Jason ride if they knew he was blind, so Jason and Bax have to figure out how to get Jason back to the top of the leaderboard without any kind of advantage or cheating being called. Meanwhile, they have to figure out what their new life is going to look like and what they'll be if they're not bull riders any longer. Will they get what they want? Or will the whole thing just be a case of the blind leading the blind?

Bartender, Tyler McKeehan, feels like his whole life is on hold. All he does is work and sleep, because he just doesn't know how to move on with his day to day after the shocking loss of his best friend. When he meets Matt at Les's Bar where he works in New York, though, he thinks he might have found someone who can nudge him out of his rut. The cowboy seems to live on fast forward, but at the same time, this kind, generous man makes Tyler feel wanted and safe. Ranch owner, Matthew Whitehead, is just in New York for a visit. But when he runs into Tyler at Les's Bar, he can tell right away that Tyler is special. Matt's family thinks he makes snap decisions, and they worry about him, but he knows what he wants, and even after just a few days, he's willing to fight to keep Tyler in his life. When Matt has to head back to Texas, he tells Tyler to come visit him and meet his kids. Soon. Tyler doesn't know if he can just pick up and go to Texas, but he misses Matt's affection and calming presence, so when life gets too overwhelming, he makes the call. Between Matt's huge, boisterous family, his children, his busy ranch, and the vast differences between New York City and Texas, Tyler wonders if he should go back to his old life every day. Matt is determined to keep Tyler right where he is, but can they overcome the odds against them and make a new life together?

Jeremy M. Dunn III has the single dad thing down, so the last thing he wants to do is call his ex-husband to ask for help with their two kids. They didn't part on good terms, and they've barely spoken since the divorce. But with a cast on his arm that goes up past his elbow, Jeremy has no choice. He needs a few days to figure out how to bathe their daughter, make school lunches and parent their son one-armed, and there isn't anyone else he can ask for help. Former rodeo cowboy West Belen was already on his way back to his kids, and to Trey ("the third", his nickname for Jeremy). He made a promise to try again, and he means to keep it, so when he sees his chance to move back into his family's life, he grabs it like the brass ring he knows it is. He's determined to be more than an "every other weekend" dad to his children, and he doesn't want to keep on living with regret about how he and Trey ended. Jeremy still desires West, but he isn't sure he can trust West to be responsible and available. West still thinks Trey is the hottest thing he's ever seen, but he has no idea how to convince the man he's ready to settle down. The two of them have never had trouble butting heads, but now they need to learn to work together to make a home for themselves and their kids where they both belong.

When Dexter Appleton's best friend Huck commits suicide, it damn near kills Dex too. Huck was a bull rider with a crazy life, and leaves behind a big house, and a ton of unanswered questions. But Dex is just a simple guy, just a Texas redneck trying to scrape together a life, and he can't handle much more before he breaks. Cyrus Hughes is a professional Dom. He's shocked to learn that Huck is gone, he's met with Huck twice a month for years, and didn't expected to miss a client so much. When he heads to Texas to pay his respects, he instinctively feels protective of Huck's anxious and unlikely best friend, Dexter. The attraction between them grows, even long distance, until Cyrus insists he needs Dex with him in New York. Clinging to his last bit of hope, Dex takes a leap of faith and moves what little he still owns in with Cyrus, hoping to find his place is in the world, and learn how to love a lifestyle Dom. Their path is full of trial and error, adjusting expectations and discovering how they fit together. Cyrus and Dex try to smooth out the rough edges and create their own family, one where Cyrus hopes to convince Dex that he's not "just" anything.