europe - Stories

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.

Cwtch is a Welsh word, translated into English it means a hug, but the meaning is deeper and more profound than a simple hug. When you give someone a cwtch you also give them a safe place and this is what twenty something Londoner Harry gives Welsh farmboy Aled. The story tells how two souls find each other, and recognise one another immediately. It is attraction, but also love at first sight, although true love is never easy.

This story is also published under the title Eighteen Years by E K Stokes.

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)

Kismet is a transgressive coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of a stifling North London summer. It explores the fragile boundary between childhood innocence and the electric, often terrifying, awakening of adolescent desire.

Ly was different. He saw his surroundings differently. There were way too many worlds he had to belong to. His train of thought had no breaks, and his emotions got too loud at times. Sometimes he simply wanted to disappear.

Welcome to the world of Ly trying to figure out how to breathe in his chaotic life without losing himself or the man he loves.

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?

In 1603 France, an investigator with secrets of his own is dispatched to a remote village to unravel a peasant boy's bizarre confession of lycanthropy. But for men who walk forbidden paths, the truth is more dangerous than any myth. (Inspired by historic events.)

Florence, 1478... city of splendor, secrets, and simmering treachery.

Matteo de’ Rossi, heir to one of Florence’s great banking houses, moves among princes and schemers. Beneath the polished banquets and humanist debates lies a pressure he cannot escape: alliances to forge, loyalties to display, and a marriage arranged to strengthen his family’s power.

But Matteo hides a truth more dangerous than politics. His heart belongs to Gianluca Colonna, a brilliant, passionate man whose kiss is as perilous as his dagger. Their love burns in the shadows of Renaissance Florence, where rumor can ruin and discovery can kill.

Fourteen-year-old Aiden Callahan has been expelled and shipped off to rural County Sligo for the summer. He expects boredom. Instead he finds ancient passage tombs and a mysterious boy named Cianán who seems to belong to the landscape itself.
As their bond deepens into first love, Aiden discovers that Cianán may be the last living remnant of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the mythic race who once ruled Ireland and retreated into the ancient mounds. But summer doesn’t last forever, and some connections come with a cost neither boy is prepared to pay.

Ryan is nineteen, a student, shares a flat in London with his ex-school mates who know he's gay, but still think he might not be. He is going to meet someone he found on a dating app, a first!