Showing results by author "Kate Hawthorne" in All Categories

Los Angeles is a big city, so when I'm out on the west coast scouting locations for my older sister's wedding, the last thing I had expected was to run headfirst into a man I'd spent a decade trying to forget. Archie is as handsome as he's ever been, but far bolder and more dominant.

Step beyond the lamplight and into the gilded darkness of a vanished world. Ghost Stories from the Gilded Age is a classic ghost story anthology featuring eerie tales by female authors who defied convention—Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Edith Wharton, Kate Chopin, and more. Narrated by an all-star ensemble of Audie, SOVAS, and One Voice award winners and nominees, this haunting audiobook collection blends Gothic elegance with supernatural unease.

Joel Reading was lonely. Nineteen years old, estranged from his family, and seemingly unable to ever get a second date, he'd surrounded himself with the things he loved most: old books and old music. When one date got out of hand before it even began, Joel found himself displaced from a flooded apartment and on the doorstep of a handsome and older stranger more than willing to take Joel in for the night.

Liam Luckett is on an adventure. He's dropped out of his master's program without telling his overbearing parents and set off on a road trip across the country. Armed with little more than his guitar, he's looking for his best life. He never expected his car to break down in the middle of nowhere Vermont with a huge storm pending, leaving him stranded and at the mercy of a hunky local mechanic. 

The American Classics Collection is a century-spanning collection of 17 classic novels, short stories, essay, and poetry by American authors, read by a cast of incredible narrators including Kobna Holdbrook-Smith; Nathan Osgood; Robert G. Slade; Jonathan Keeble, and more. Included here are stories by some of the greatest writers of all time, including Ernest Hemingway; Mark Twain; F. Scott Fitzgerald; Edith Wharton; Frederick Douglass; and H.P. Lovecraft, amongst a host of others.

Gil Valentine knows three things: he doesn't want kids, he doesn't want a relationship, and he likes to be alone. He spends Sundays tinkering in the garage, cruising on his motorcycle, and enjoying the luxury of a bed that he doesn't have to share. After his last relationship with his best friend's brother ended in disaster and nearly cost him a friendship, Gil swore off anything that might lead to complications.

FLYNN: I've never taken relationships seriously because I’ve never met anyone worth being serious for. I don't love them and leave them, but no-strings-hookup might as well be my middle name. Getting dared to kiss a gorgeous stranger with eyes like the ocean and hair like a cloud sounds like a...

I know my way around the bedroom and the playroom, so I should have known that flirting with my older—and dominant—boss was a recipe for disaster. But by the time I realize I'm in over my head with the disgustingly rich and perfectly commanding Robert McAvoy, it's too late to turn back. I want him and I crave the way he makes me feel, even if it's confusing and threatens everything about the life I've built for myself. I'm not a submissive. I'm not meek and I'm not mild, but when Rob is around it's easy to see the appeal in all of those things.

I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. Reed’s days are full of unexpected surprises - pretty par for the course as the principal of the only Catholic school in a small town, but there’s one surprise he wasn’t prepared for, and that was Dominic O’Halloran. God help me, I want you. Dominic has spent decades thinking about the life he could have lived.

When his paralegal suggests a group date, Calvin bucks tradition and tells the younger man yes. He’s not expecting Emory’s other boyfriend to be his estranged husband, and he’s definitely not expecting what comes next. Calvin, Graham, and Emory find themselves in a delicate relationship with rules and structure, but hearts are wild and refuse to listen. Emory is ready to commit, but Calvin and Graham’s past threatens their future and the chance to see their love made whole.

Diplomacy by other means may, at times, sound heroic. A fight for principles and ideals carried out by young men armed to the teeth and directed by older men in pursuit of their own version of glory for themselves and their Nations. Right will triumph over wrong. But war can be an illusion, stirred up by schemers and opportunists to take something from other nations that may or may not be right. As blood and limb are sacrificed the true cost is seen but often set to one side as the dispute becomes embedded in emotions and reason falls away.

Finally ready to dip his toe into a lifestyle he's only been a bystander to, Callum Jardine convinces himself long-distance is the safest bet, and he activates an online dating profile. Almost immediately, he receives a message from DaddyJM, a handsome, older man who lives across the country and offers Callum far more than he ever expected.   

At 18, Landon Miller was sure about two things - he was a submissive and he was going to be with Gregory Douglas for the rest of his life. That was until parents and school got in the way, and he found himself in New York, thousands of miles from the man who had learned how to take him in hand. Years later, behind the bar at Rapture, the BDSM club he's built on a foundation of disillusioned dreams and broken bricks, Landon finds himself face to face with his favorite memory and greatest regret - Gregory. 

Justin and Micah Townsend thought they had it all. With six happy years behind them, Keith tumbles into their world and throws the expectations for their life and their future to the wind. Keith Warren thought he'd made the right decisions. After fleeing an abusive partner and starting over in a new city, he's now getting an education about things he never knew existed. With Justin and Micah leading the way, Keith focuses his energy on being a good submissive and a deserving partner.  

A decade since his last successful gallery showing, Roland’s life has crumbled. Imprisoned by his own mind and taunted daily by painful memories, he finds his only comfort in drinking. With a life that has devolved into nothing brighter than variants of gray, he sees little point in his existence when a delivery boy with eyes of inspirational blue shows up at his door.

Two men are searching. Sam is still trying to figure out what he wants in life, but Richard already knows. He wants Sam - the vibrant young man with glossy lips, a hungry stare, and who looks so pretty on his knees. With his unconditional acceptance, Richard offers Sam something no one else has and, in turn, Sam inadvertently shows Richard a love he’s never known.

Pursuing your best friend's dad is never a good idea, but Cameron Motel is feeling reckless. His life is about to change, and Luke is older, attractive...and he represents something Cameron has never had before. Stability. Luke didn't mean to get involved with his son's best friend, but Cameron needed a strong hand and Luke was willing to deliver on his promises. This thing between them is supposed to be a secret, but something as big as love can't stay hidden for long.

Verity Jones has always been true to themself; even when it meant coming out as nonbinary at a young age and losing the love of their friends and parents. Years later, Verity is ensnared in a complicated, consuming, but purely platonic relationship with their best friend Landon. When Landon's high-school sweetheart re-enters the picture, Verity finds themself alone for the first time since college. Content with the status quo, Aaron Hoffman finds his tight-knit circle of friends shaken up when Gregory introduces him to Landon, and Landon's roommate and business partner, Verity.

Jackson Bishop doesn't know what's real. He had a birthday. He met a man. He buried his mother. He got lost in the woods, and then.... Jackson woke up. It's his birthday again and his mother is alive, but the man from his dream is selling him a coffee and he doesn't know Jackson's name.

The American literary tradition has, in a far shorter span of time than others throughout history, achieved a glowing and glittering reputation. From its transatlantic roots it has absorbed the sons and daughters of other cultures, other lands and made them part of her own. Within this melting pot of styles, genres and wordplay one fact stands out: In the American short story, Literary tradition has a strong, vibrant and almost inclusive history, if you know where to look.