Showing results by author "Riley Hart" in All Categories

At 43, Holden Barnett is getting along just fine. His job as a pilot keeps him from getting restless, and he’s got a man who doesn’t want promises for the future. One phone call from his estranged sister changes everything. She needs his help, so Holden drops everything and heads to Harmony, a small town in Briar County, which represents everything he’s tried to avoid in life.

My home is my sanctuary. Or is it my prison? Some days it's hard to tell. I've confined myself behind these walls for protection. I have my reasons, but that doesn't change the profound loneliness I've discovered in the process. Then one day I find myself drifting toward the window to see him. Corey Marshall, my new neighbor. Quiet, reserved, and cute as can be. He infects my thoughts, becomes the image I fantasize about. I want to taste his lips, smell his scent...feel what it's like to be inside him.

Divorced for two years, August Reynolds needs a change. He and his teenage son, Reese, pack up and move to Briar County, the home August left at 14. He’s hoping it’ll help him and Reese connect again, that Reese will come into his own there the way August did. For him, it was all because of Clint Jones, his childhood best friend and first crush.

Jasper’s been my best friend my whole life. From losing my family when I was young, to living together and running our business, it’s always been me and Jasp. I feel more for him than I should, but confessing the truth would be the first step to losing him. Our lives are so entwined, it’s hard to tell where one of us ends and the other begins. It’s killing me more each day to be this close to him and not be able to call him mine, so when it hurts too much, the only choice is to walk away.

Grady Dalton is in a rut. He’s 38, without a boyfriend, and has yet to find the place that feels like home. The closest he ever got was his best friend, Nathan. But it’s been seven years since he passed, and life isn’t getting easier. That’s how he ends up in Briar County, hoping to grow roots in the place Nathan had loved. Deacon Sharpe spends his days serving homemade ice cream and his nights alone, pretending he’s getting by after his wife’s death better than he is. His world is rocked when a man shows up who claims to have been his brother-in-law’s best friend.

Rod Nelson is used to being someone's good time, and that's fine with him. Spending his days at his adult toy store, Rods-N-Ends, he never knows who he'll meet. The second Landon Harrison walks in, he has Rod's full attention. It seems as if Landon wants him too, so why won't the man jump in the sack with him already?

Gary should be living it up in his South Tower unit of Metropolis, but he's having a hard time adjusting to his newly single status. It's not easy to walk away from five years with his ex, who he discovered was cheating on him with some North Tower twink. After a night out partying, licking his wounds, he goes to bed alone. When he wakes the next morning, there's a naked guy in his bed. Not just any guy. A stud from North Tower. But hot as he is, what the hell is he doing in his room?

His dad was the town troublemaker, and I was the son of a cop. We couldn't have been more different, yet we were best friends, had each other's backs, and kept each other's secrets. "What you are, I am," we always said. Then one night irrevocably changed our lives forever. It's 10 years before I see Gage again, and instantly I can tell he's not the same boy I fell in love with. We're both haunted and hardened by the memory of that night - of everything we did and saw.

Lucky Tyler Holloway has never felt particularly lucky. Frankly, he's as regular as can be. He works in construction with his brothers, loves his small-town life and shares a close bond with his family, especially his grandmother. Okay, so maybe he has a few secrets in his closet, like his bisexuality and that other thing he doesn’t talk about.... Grayson ‘Saint’ St. Claire has it all: a dream job in LA, money, freedom. Saint doesn’t do attachments, which is just the way he likes it. 

On the surface Ben seems to have it all: money, influence, good looks. He smiles and jokes in all the right places, but it's all a façade. Inside he's a wreck, and it's only getting worse. With his congressman father using Ben's recent kidnapping for his own political agenda and Ben still struggling to get over the only guy he's ever loved, he feels like he's losing his grip on reality, and he's quickly spiraling out of control. Then he meets Dante, an enigma of a man with as much self-hatred as Ben has.

Nothing in life is ever easy, and no one is more painfully aware of that than Josiah Evans, Mateo Sanchez, and Tristan Croft. They know what they want - each other - but with three people as broken as they are, all those pieces aren't so easily mended. Josiah is their glue. All he wants is to give his men what they need. Mateo wants to absolve himself of his sins. To be worthy of love and to protect it. Tristan must let go of his past, must learn how to need, and what it really means to take care of someone.

For as long as I can remember, I've craved submission, but have struggled to put my wants into words. Then along comes a man online that I know only as Sir, and the connection is instant. Our desires align in a way I've never experienced. Anonymous or not, Sir is exactly what I'm looking for.

I’ve never understood the need to be submissive, or dominant, for that matter. Trust doesn’t come easily for me. But there was that one time I watched my best friend with his Sir, and it roused something in me I don’t want to admit. Just like I can’t acknowledge out loud how alone I feel. Then my friend, Jordan, decides to play with David, a dominant we both know, and I think I’m jealous. They intrigue me separately, but Jordan and David together makes my interest even more explosive. Maybe, I want to let go, to let someone else to take the reins, so I can just be.

To listeners of The Vers, a queer podcast I host with my three best friends, I’m known as The Realist—I accept life the way it is, believe in honesty over sugarcoating, and okay, I can maybe be a little bossy. If you asked The Vers guys, they’d tell you I’m a caretaker who’s always thinking of others, but they also give over-the-top hugs and don’t believe me when I say feelings are the worst.

Colby Covington has no clue if there’s anything in the world for him beyond Briar County. His family assumes he’ll do as they do: work Covington Acres, get married, have kids. Colby doesn’t want children, and seeing as he’s never felt even an inkling of romantic love for another person, he sure as hell isn’t interested in marriage. In his mid-forties, Vincent O’Brien is starting over in the small town of Harmony. After being cheated on, again, he’s sworn off ever falling in love. As fate would have it, Vince needs a place to stay, and Colby has a spare room.

When I left Birchbark angry and heartbroken, I vowed never to return. Fate had other plans. The father I hate had a stroke, so now I'm back in the Upper Peninsula to take care of him. The locals treat Dad like royalty, while Dad vacillates between open anger and flat-out ignoring me. Throw in my messy relationship with my brothers, and being in Birchbark becomes unbearable.

I’ve never been great at letting people in. Life is easier if I bury my feelings. People tend to let you down, which is only proven when my best friend, Rex, accidentally kills a man and lets me take the fall. When I get out of prison, the last thing I want is to go back to Clayton, Oregon, but it’s where my grandma lives, the only person who’s always had my back. My plan is to stay out of trouble, steer clear of my old crew, save up, and the second we can, leave town for good.

I see myself as mature and responsible for a 24-year-old - I have a steady job, a comfortable apartment, and eventually I’ll find the right guy to settle down with. Some might find this boring, but at least I know what I want. That is, until reconnecting with a childhood companion flips my preconceived notions upside down. Skylar was my first real friend - my first crush, too - and 12 years later, he’s still the same gorgeous and charismatic free spirit. I’m easily sucked back into his orbit, my protests futile when it comes to his amusingly harebrained ideas.

Carter - Relationships - who needs 'em? Fortunately, as far as my options go...well, let's just say I'm used to getting what I want, whenever I want it. Unless your name happens to be Sawyer Burke. Sawyer - I've always been a relationship guy. I never understood the urge to bed a different guy every night. Unfortunately, I can't get Carter James out of my head. I told myself I hate him - and I should. He's everything I'm not - loud, sassy...and more than a little annoying. But I want him too, and he's made no secret of wanting me.

Lincoln I've done a good job getting over my past. I'm not only proud of who I am, but revel in it. Still, I don't let myself get too close to people...Except I can't stop sleeping with Rush Alexander. I try, I really do...Unfortunately, things become a little more complicated when I tell a white lie that lands me in a fake relationship with him. Yeah, not my best moment.