Stories

Owen has been hiding his whole life. Closeted in a Catholic funeral home family, fake-dating his best friend Margot for three years, headed to a college he doesn't want. Then Ryder messages him on a dating app and everything shifts. Ryder is rough, honest, reckless, and completely unwilling to be someone's secret. As their connection deepens over one Ohio summer, Owen finds himself caught between the safe lie he's been living and the terrifying truth Ryder keeps pushing him toward. Something has to break. And Ryder's determined to take him on the ride of his life before it does.

The year is 1891, and the Wild West is dying. Alvarez is a smartly dressed, smooth-talking bandito riding north with a stolen fortune, a lethal six-shooter, and one very spoiled cat. He travels alone, until he finds a half-frozen boy bleeding in the cold mud. Devon is an exile, violently banished from his Mennonite community and hunted by the very boys who broke him. As they ride together, Devon's cold logic clashes with Alvarez's flashy chaos. Slowly, the pinstriped killer and the battered runaway must learn to trust each other before the past catches up to them both.

Luka and his best friend Devin, two resilient, homeless young men fighting to survive as hustlers on the unforgiving streets, face a life-changing moment when an enigmatic, affluent client crosses their path. This powerful stranger presents them with a jaw-dropping opportunity, an unconventional job that will challenge their friendship like never before. As they plunge headfirst into this rousing experience, they will face harsh scenarios, uncover buried secrets, and be forced to redefine their loyalty to one another. Will their relationship emerge stronger than before, or will their trials ultimately unravel their bond?

Having crashed and burned after early success as a composer, Alex has managed to rebuild his career and his life. Carpenter Neil is between girlfriends, and his knowledge of music is limited. Yet despite their differences the two come together, and each spurs the other on to explore life further and to take risks. Add in a pair of mothers who are friends and Neil’s fragile younger brother—as well as a manipulative rich uncle and some lively friends—and you have a dynamic mix.

My dearest Sir or Madam – Good society is not exempt from the ubiquitous underbelly of forks and cakes, though I confess I never expected to be so entirely undone by it. Nor by Oliver Fitzgibbon. Fair Oliver! Two years my senior and newly come to town – handsome, observant and possessed, I think, of the same gentle temper as myself. Yet in a world that demands discretion, I fear my admiration may prove a dangerous indulgence. With best wishes, I remain, &c., &c. – Timothy.

Two enemies wake in the ashes of Jerusalem—one a deserter drowning in guilt, the other an amnesiac who remembers only how to kill. Hunted across the desert by a vengeful lord, they must disguise themselves as a Crusader knight and his squire to survive. But in the war-torn port of Jaffa, masks slip. Secrets surface. And a feral German street rat with a talent for trouble forces them to confront an impossible question: in a holy war that devours everything, can two broken boys build a family from the ruins?

Following the death of his mother, fifteen-year-old Robbie is forced to move from England to start a new life living with his uncle’s family in Canada. Homesick, confused, and missing his close friend, it soon becomes apparent that Robbie is carrying a lot more baggage than he arrived with.

The Obsolete returns to the music scene as an unstoppable force. With Ryan back, Jasper’s determined to cement their status as a power couple.

But things have changed.

Ryan’s career is at a crossroads. Jasper puts on the performance of a lifetime to convince everyone he’s fine. And an invasive media debacle sends the band into a fight for their personal privacy once more.

When Ryan takes the stage with the bravest solo of his life, will it be enough to reassure Jasper they can really have it all?

When the body of Lukas von Keller, a third-year student at Veridien, a prestigious all-boys academy, is found at the bottom of a ravine on March 10th, 1986, life at the quiet elite institution is shaken to the core.

After months of investigation, authorities are ready to rule the death a suicide. Detective Whitlock, however, is not. A chance to solve the case, now a personal nightmare, presents itself when Marius Vassier, a local private eye known for his sharp instincts and impeccable fashion, approaches him with a plan.

An unorthodox plan.

(Full summary inside)