Tal Bauer

Opposites attract, sure. But when Manhattan glitz collides with Texas grit, will love be enough? Noël: Manhattan is my heart and soul. In the cutthroat world of elite public relations, I’m one of the princes. I manage global superstars, predict the up-and-coming trends, easy. And social media? That’s my specialty. I can make you, hon, and launch you straight to the stratosphere. My life is champagne glitter and starlight, and everything around me is gold. But then, my own wedding bells turn into alarm bells, and suddenly, I'm off to Cancun—alone. Alone with a first-class ticket to a honeymoon for one. All that gold? Tarnished tin. Everything I thought I knew? Gone. Cancun is supposed to be where I obliterate myself on margaritas and tropical waves. Forget the past, shake off the pain, and look ahead. It's my strategy, always has been. But beneath it all, I long for someone to see the real me, the Noël I’ve hidden away for years. I’m so damn lonely. And then I meet Wyatt. He’s nothing like me. He’s a rancher from Texas, he can’t tell me whether high waist jeans are in or out, and he’d rather work his fields than rub elbows with celebs. Velvet rope lines and VIP access are meaningless to him. He’s also kinder than me, and altruistic in a way I haven’t seen since cargo pants died as a trend in the early 2000s. He’s the best man I’ve ever met. And that’s a problem, because all of his big-hearted warmth and Texas gentleness is drawing me in. I'm desperate to surrender, but I can’t. Good things aren’t meant for me. I’m no good for Wyatt. In fact, I’m his looming heartbreak. So why am I kissing him? Wyatt: I’m a man of the land, made from the Texas soil I work on, strengthened by the vineyard I tend to. It's a world I've carefully nurtured, a balm for the wounds of my past. This life hasn’t been easy, but it’s mine. I’m fiercely protective of the world I’ve built for me, my brother, his fiancée, and my nephew. The four of us are everything that matters to me, and my life and my cares extend to my cross fences and the edges of my range. Everything else out there? It’s all just dust in the wind. And then Noël blows into my life. I’m gone. Captivated, spun around, tipped upside down and torn apart. I can’t breathe; being around Noël makes me feel like I’m sixteen again and hiding all my secret fantasies and unspoken desires. I’m down in Cancun with my family, and this isn’t the time to be falling for a guy, but how can you not fall head over heels when the man of your dreams walks into your world? Noël’s many multi-hued layers fascinate me and perplex me, and I want to spend every minute unraveling him. Noël's life is glittering gold, and mine is Texas soil, but I can learn to understand Manhattan, pop culture, and celebrities if that means I get to be Noël's man. But does Noël feel the same? What is this between us? Is it just a week that we both need, a Pause on life, out here in this place so far removed from our real lives? Or is this the start of something new and huge and life-changing for the two of us? What am I seeing in Noël's eyes when he looks at me? And what’s going to happen when this week ends? *** How to Say I Do is an opposites-attract, slow-burn, bi-awakening, rom-com-meets-heartfelt romance love story full of swoony beach vacation vibes, laugh-out-loud moments, and grab-your-chest heartache. Add a sprinkle of fake husbands, second chance romance, small town vibes, and celebrity shenanigans, and you’ve got the makings of Wyatt and Noël’s love story. Pour yourself into the sand and sun and enjoy Noël and Wyatt’s journey to their Happy Ever After.

A single dads, friends-to-lovers, bi awakening MM Romance. We're a puzzle made of two pieces. Landon Larsen is the envy of all the dads in Last Waters, Texas. He's cool, confident, and put together. He and his son—the high school's all-star quarterback—have the perfect father-son relationship. He’s such a Super Dad, it's almost sickening. I'm not cool, or confident, and my relationship with my son couldn't be worse. He's barely speaking to me, and a year after my wife died, we're both clinging to the wreckage of our family. Landon's son and mine are best friends and—of course—Landon is the football Team Dad. And though I know nothing about football, Landon convinces me to volunteer to be closer to my son. Volunteering might give him and me a chance to rebuild what's broken between us. Now I'm spending all my free time with the team—and with Landon—and the more we're together, the deeper our friendship grows. My son is opening up, too, little by little. I think I’m getting him back. There's just one giant problem. I'm head over heels for Landon. I've never been attracted to men in my life… until him. Landon draws me in without even trying, and the harder I fight this, the deeper I fall. Crushing on my son's best friend's father must be my biggest parenting failure ever, but I can't get enough of Landon. Falling for him puts each fragile moment I've rebuilt with my son at risk. What would he think if he knew I craved his best friend's dad? I'm playing with fire, but I can't turn off these feelings Landon has unlocked inside of me. Of course, a guy like Landon could never fall for someone like me. It's pointless to even imagine we could be something together. So why did I just kiss him? *** You & Me is a single dads, friends-to-lovers, bi awakening MM romance, full of dads and their exasperating teenage sons, high school sports shenanigans, and #FoundFamily. Come for the epic love, stay for the forever feels.

A slow burn, friends to lovers, bi awakening, age gap MM romance. Falling for his friend's straight dad might be the worst mistake Colton Hall has ever made. Colton's best friend is gay. He's not: he's never been attracted to men. So why the hell is he fantasizing about his friend's dad? Besides, Nick Swanscott is straight. A devoted father and the best man Colton's ever known. He deserves more than to be the object of Colton's crush. The NFL is waiting for Colton, but he decides to stick it out for his senior year in college before joining the league, a decision that proves disastrous when an injury tears him from the game. In the blink of an eye, Colton goes from being a top draft pick to potentially never playing football again. But Nick is there through his recovery. He takes care of Colton every day and shows him a future that might hold something more than being a superstar quarterback. Maybe Colton's life isn't over. And Colton's crush explodes: full-on, head over heels, hopelessly falling in love. He's so screwed. He's got to get these feelings under control. All those dreams of kissing Nick can never become reality. And there's no way Nick could ever love him back. Right?

Wes Van de Hoek clawed his way off his family’s West Texas ranch under the Friday night lights, earning a football scholarship to the state’s best university. Three years in, he has it all: he’s the starting tight end, team captain, and, according to ESPN, maybe the best college football player in the nation. But he’s been keeping a secret from everyone. Justin Swanscott has three certainties in his life: he’s gay, football is overrated, and he really, really doesn’t like cowboys. He should never have fallen into Wes’s open-range eyes or let his heart run wild when Wes gave him that shy little smile over summer. But he couldn’t stop himself. Everyone’s asking questions about Wes this season: How is he playing so well? Will Texas be undefeated this year? Will he take the team all the way to the national championship? What’s next for him? The truth? Wes isn’t dreaming about an NFL contract. His heart belongs to Justin, even though the world wants it to belong to football. Wes has stadiums packed with screaming fans, ESPN is all over him, and the NFL wants him badly. He’s living under a microscope, and the pressure keeps building as the team keeps winning. Everyone wants something from him, but all Wes wants is to love Justin. Something’s gotta give.

It was just one night. It was just one mistake. FBI Agent Noah Downing had questions about his sexuality that a single night in Vegas should have answered. But dawn finds him on a plane back to Iowa, back on the trail of a vicious serial killer who disappeared six years ago and has suddenly resurfaced. There's nothing like a murder investigation to escape an existential crisis. FBI profiler Cole Kennedy is still reeling after finding a heart-stopping connection with a seemingly perfect man, only for him to vanish. When he's sent to Iowa to profile the killer terrorizing America's heartland, he finds more questions than answers - both about the murderer and about Noah, the last man he ever expected to see again. A twisted secret stretches between Cole and Noah, tangled with questions they both have about each other. But now, thrown together, they'll have to unravel the killer's profile and follow his trail... back to the very beginning, to where everyone's questions are answered once and for all. ***This is an M|M romantic suspense standalone novel, featuring a second chance romance, the hunt for a twisted serial killer, and one man's journey to acceptance. 80k words.

A rogue Black Ops unit with the president in their crosshairs. A Secret Service agent who will break every rule. A president falling for the one person he shouldn’t—a man. Newly elected President Jack Spiers’s presidency is rocked from the very beginning, and he’s working furiously to keep the world from falling apart. Between terrorism attacks ripping apart Europe, Russia’s constant posturing and aggression, and the quagmire of the Middle East, Jack is struggling to keep his campaign promise—to work toward a better, safer world. For Special Agent Ethan Reichenbach, Jack is just another president, the third in twelve years. With Jack’s election, he’s been promoted, and now he’s running the presidential detail, which puts him side by side with Jack daily. He’s expecting another stuffed suit and an arrogant DC politician, but Jack shocks him with his humor and humanity. There are rules against a Secret Service agent and one of their protectees developing a friendship—big rules. Besides, Jack is a widower, and Ethan has always avoided falling for straight men. Ethan keeps his distance, but Jack draws him in, like gas to a naked flame, and it’s a lure he isn’t strong enough to turn away from. As the two men collide, rules are shattered and the world teeters on the verge of war, and a rogue Black Ops unit bent on destruction sets Jack in their deadly crosshairs. Ethan must put everything on the line in order to save the man he’s come to love, Jack’s presidency, and the world. *** Expanded second special edition, with 15,000+ additional words, expanded scenes, and character artwork.

Fifteen years from now, an affair rocks the world. Two men commit to their impossible love. One general is determined to destroy them both. President Jack Spiers and former Secret Service Agent Ethan Reichenbach throw caution to the wind, committing themselves publicly as the first out male lovers and partners to occupy the White House. Jack moves Ethan into the Residence, but as Ethan settles into his new role as first gentleman of the United States, not everyone is thrilled with their choices. When it seems like the world turns against them, Jack and Ethan must turn to each other, finding the strength together to press on. In the chaos, Jack’s relationship with the Russian president, Sergey Puchkov, grows closer, and the two nations find themselves working almost as allies. But President Puchkov has secrets of his own, secrets that could rip everything apart. And Ethan steps back into the action with Lieutenant Adam Cooper, taking charge of a covert kill team tasked with hunting down General Madigan once and for all. But Madigan is elusive, and his dangerous reach is long. He strikes at Jack and Ethan from the shadowy corners of the globe, unraveling their entire world. As the mad general draws new allies together, he is single-minded in his quest to destroy the only two men who ever beat him. He will stop at nothing until Jack and Ethan are shattered men, worlds apart, and struggling to get back to one another. And after that, Madigan’s true revenge begins …

The White House, infiltrated.The president, running for his life.A traitorous general, intent on burning the world to the ground. When everything falls apart, who do you trust? President Jack Spiers fled Washington DC on the heels of a devastating attack on CIA headquarters, masterminded by one of America’s own, former General Porter Madigan. While the world believes Jack was killed in the bombing, he embarks on a wild infiltration mission, smuggling himself into occupied Russia to rescue the love of his life: former Secret Service Agent and First Gentleman Ethan Reichenbach. Reunited, Jack, Ethan, and deposed Russian president Sergey Puchkov, along with President Elizabeth Wall—the only person left in Washington DC who Jack trusts—must work together. They piece together a desperate plan, hunting Madigan to the ends of the earth and the bitter frigidity of the Arctic, where Madigan’s world-shattering doomsday plan comes together. Outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and outgunned, Jack, Ethan, Sergey, and the rest of the team struggle to put a stop to Madigan and his army. In the desolate extremes of the Arctic, their resolve, their strength, and even their love is tested, pushed to the absolute limits as choices must be made: choices that pit the fate of the world against the love in their hearts, and the loves of their life. As the world crumbles around them, Jack and Ethan find themselves waging a war on two fronts—against an enemy they can see, and another, hiding within their ranks. Who can be trusted when the enemy is within you?

A passionate, thrilling, and addictive standalone MM romance. President Brennan Walker captivated me from the moment I walked into his Oval Office. He’s a mystery I’m determined to unlock. I don't know what's hiding inside Brennan's gaze when he looks my way, or why black lightning keeps crashing between us. He’s a storm at midnight, a dark moon rising, trouble on the horizon. I’m on the verge of sliding into discoveries and truths that maybe I’m not ready for. I've never been with a man, but now? I'm dreaming about his bleu clair eyes and wondering what it would feel like if his lips touched mine. There’s something here, something between us, like the oxygen we’re breathing is igniting before each inhale. But he’s the president. I'm his Secret Service agent. He’s the job. He's forbidden. If we cross this line, Brennan could lose everything. I know I have to walk away. But I can't. How much are we willing to risk? And how badly will this go up in flames? ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ Secret Service is a standalone MM romance, full to the brim with passion, suspense, and forbidden pleasures. Fall in love with Special Agent Reese Theriot and President Brennan Walker... and hold on tight for the ride of your life.

Six bodies in a single grave… in the same West Texas country where Dakota left everything behind. Every beat of my heart belongs to you. Thirteen years ago, Dakota Jennings thought he'd found his forever when he fell in love with Shane Carson. But one afternoon shattered their love story, and both Dakota and Shane left Rustler, Texas, with broken hearts. Even now, Dakota is still feeling the agony of losing Shane. Sure, he's a Texas Ranger, but that's not how he wanted to live his life. All he ever wanted was to love Shane. Loving you is the only time I feel alive. Shane's life was supposed to be different than this. There'd been a plan, ever since he was knee-high to his father. But falling for Dakota spun Shane's world upside down, and for years, Shane has had nothing but the memories of all that he lost: Dakota's gentle touch, and the sweetness of his lips, and the star-strewn nights they spent wrapped in each other's arms. West of the Pecos, there is no law. When the Rangers get the call about six bodies being pulled out of a mass grave in West Texas, the governor sends Dakota to run the investigation. Dakota heads back to his hometown and comes face-to-face with the last man he ever expected to see again: only now, he’s Deputy Shane Carson… Dakota's local partner assigned to the case. There's nothing Dakota wants more than a second chance with Shane, but so much is stacked against them: six corpses, a murderer on the loose, and history that refuses to stay buried. And the bodies keep piling up as Dakota and Shane try to run the killer down across the West Texas plains. In a moment, everything changes: the hunters become the hunted, the past fractures, and all Dakota thought he knew comes tumbling down. Secrets break wide open as Dakota remembers-- This is West Texas, and out here, nothing is as it seems. Big Bend County is a place of beauty and desolation, of secrets and small towns. Where the past and the present collide, and where nothing stays hidden forever. This MM romantic suspense is the first in the new Big Bend Texas Rangers series. Come along for the West Texas sunsets, the heart-pounding thrills, and the hard-won Happy Ever Afters.

It was just one moment. It was just one mistake. For years, men have been disappearing. A father in North Carolina. A boater in California. A hiker in Arkansas. And more, scattered across the United States. The FBI knows who’s responsible: a serial killer they caught, a man they sent young profiler Cole Kennedy to interrogate. But then the killer escaped, leaving the FBI in chaos and Cole’s psyche in tatters. Eight years later, Cole’s life has changed. He’s found the man of his dreams, and he’s moved to Iowa to be with Special Agent Noah Downing, leaving the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and the murderers behind. Or so he thought. An attack on the backroads of Iowa shatters the FBI, and in the aftermath, they uncover the signature of the last man they expect: the killer who got away. Now he’s hunting Noah, and the BAU descends on Des Moines, sending Cole back on the psychological chase. To catch the only man who has ever beaten him, Cole will have to delve inside the killer’s mind. It’s a place he barely survived before, and the deeper he goes, the more horrors await. And though Noah is ordered to back off the investigation, he won’t leave Cole to face this darkness alone. If Cole has any hope of saving the man he loves, he must unravel the killer’s twisted profile and follow his trail of death… even when it leads him into the marrow of his worst nightmares.

A federal judge running from the truth. A U.S. marshal running from his past. A trial that can plunge the world into war. Federal Judge Tom Brewer is finally putting the pieces of his life back together. In the closet for twenty-five long years, he’s climbing out slowly, and, with the hope of finding a special relationship with the stunning Mike Lucciano, U.S. Marshal assigned to his DC courthouse. He wants to be out and proud, but he can’t erase his own past, and the lessons he learned long ago. But a devastating terrorist attack in the heart of DC, and the subsequent capture and arrest of the terrorist, leads to a trial that threatens to expose the dark underbelly of America’s national security. As Russia beats the drums of war, intent on seeking revenge, and the United States struggles to contain the storm before it races out of control, secrets and lies, past and present, collide in Judge Tom Brewer’s courtroom. With the world’s attention fixed on Tom and this case, he suddenly discovers he may be the only person who can put everything together in time to stop the spark of a new world war.

You've heard this story before: a guy supposedly kills himself, but his best friend can't accept it. He calls in an investigator he knows to take a second look, certain there's more going on. I'm the investigator. Secret Service Agent Sean Avery. The guy who called me? My ex, Vice President Jonathan Sharp. And the guy he doesn't believe put a bullet in his brain? That was President Steven Baker. The deeper I dig, the more things fall apart. I've got a dead president inside a locked room. A hidden note. A secret gun. A missing CIA officer. And no one I can trust. Now Jonathan's in the crosshairs, and if I don't figure out what really happened that night at Camp David, the love of my life might be the next president to die. ***This M/M romantic suspense features smoldering forbidden love and a May/December second chance romance that ignites your pages.

The truth is complicated.On September 11th, 2001, Kris Caldera was a junior member of the CIA's Alec Station, the unit dedicated to finding and stopping Osama Bin Laden.They failed.Ten days later, he was on the ground in Afghanistan with a Special Forces team, driven to avenge the ghosts that haunted him and the nation he'd let down. On the battlefield, he meets Special Forces Sergeant David Haddad. David - Arab American, Muslim, and gay - becomes the man Kris loves, the man he lives for, and the man he kills for, through the long years of the raging wars.David Haddad thought he'd be an outsider his whole life. Too American for the Middle East, too Arab for America, and too gay to be Muslim. It took Kris to bring the parts of himself together, to make him the man he'd always wanted to be. But the War on Terror wreaks havoc on David's soul, threatening to shatter the fragile peace he's finally found with Kris.When a botched mission rips David from Kris's life, Kris's world falls into ruin and ash. A shell of the man who once loved with the strength to shake both the CIA and the world, he marks time on the edges of his life. The days bleed together, meaningless after losing the love of his life.After being captured, tortured to the edge of his life, and left for dead by his comrades, David doesn't know how much of himself is left. He vanished one day in the tribal belt of Pakistan, and the man who walks out almost a decade later is someone new: Al Dakhil Al-Khorasani.But strange rumblings are whispering through the CIA. Intelligence from multiple sources overseas points to something new. Something deadly, and moving to strike the United States. Intercepts say an army from Khorasan, the land of the dead where the Apocalypse of Islam will rise, is coming.And, at the head of this army, a shadowy figure the US hasn't seen before: Al Dakhil Al-Khorasani.David is coming home.

C’est cela l’amour, et tu es mon rêve... Bryce: Hockey is my life. This game pulled me from my tiny Quebec hometown all the way to the NHL, and now? I’m the number one player in the league. Team capitaine for the Montréal Étoiles. I’m shattering records and packing arenas every night, and I’ve promised my team: we’re going to win the Stanley Cup this year. But I’m keeping big secrets. I'm thinking dangerous thoughts, and dreaming about impossible things. Like how a man’s lips might taste, or how his body might feel in my arms. I can’t go there. I’ve got to focus. Team. Hockey. Cup. What my heart wants doesn’t matter. So why am I falling head over heels at the NHL's All-Star Weekend? I can’t do this. I can’t fall for Hunter Lacey. He’s a hockey player. We’re both in the NHL. He’s on a different team. And, oh yeah, he’s straight. Hunter: I’m a middle-of-the-road, nothing-special hockey player. Good enough to be drafted into the NHL, and I’ve been on the roster for the past two years, but I’ll never make the Hall of Fame. I’m just trying to keep my head up and get through each day, until this wild ride comes to an end. Deep thinking isn’t really my thing. Look inside myself? Lotta beer and burgers there. I never thought I’d be invited to the All-Star Weekend, but here I am. And there’s my hero: Bryce Michel, league superstar. Saying hello to Bryce turns into hours spent together on the ice, and then an invite to dinner, and then days at each other's side. I’m in heaven. He’s my hero, and this is the coolest— Then Bryce’s lips land on mine, and the world turns upside down. Gravity is an MM romance featuring bi/gay awakening, friends to lovers, team shenanigans, fast-paced hockey, ice-melting sizzle, and swoony Québécois love songs. Gravity is set in the same universe as The Rest of the Story.

Sasha Andreyev grew up on the wrong side of nowhere, dreaming of starlight as he strangled a secret. He fled, enlisting in the Russian Army, and worked his way up the ranks. Years later, after surviving a beating and being left for dead, he found a new life in Moscow, working with President Sergey Puchkov. And then, he fell in love. Desperate to avoid his runaway heart, crippled with a shame that infected his soul, and ravaged by demons haunting his memories, Sasha ran. But he could never escape Sergey, or the gravitational pull of their love. Nightmares trail behind his every step and weary ghosts live in the hollow chambers of his soul. He’s spent a lifetime brutally eviscerating the parts of himself he despises, and he’s an empty, shattered shell, struggling to be the man worthy of Sergey’s love. The pieces of his soul he cut out are the very ones he needs in order to become the man he yearns to be. He’ll need to face himself, and his past, on a journey into the frozen heart of Russia, and into the midnight depths of the dead lands. Only then can he ascend from the darkness, and be the man Sergey needs at his side.

I have looked to the stars my whole life… For two years, Sasha Andreyev has been in NASA astronaut training, the final step on his lifelong dream. During that time, he and Russian President Sergey Puchkov have kept their love hidden. But as graduation nears, secrets start to slip, and Sergey makes a dangerous trip to Houston for a weekend with Sasha. On the heels of their stolen weekend, a Soviet satellite—a relic from the Cold War that should never have existed—launches a devastating attack. An emergency mission is prepared, and NASA’s sole Russian astronaut is tapped to join the crew: Sasha Andreyev. Go for autosequence start… Sasha heads for the stars, where he and his crew must neutralize a long lost Soviet weapon before it drops its deadly cargo on America. Someone down below is working against them, someone who wants to bring the satellite—and its weapon—back to Earth. But Earth's orbit is hiding more than one secret history wanted to bury forever. Soviet ghosts are supposed to stay dead… How much will Sasha—and Sergey—sacrifice to save the world… again?

History says the Knights Templar were destroyed in 1307. History is wrong. Vampires haunt the sewers beneath Rome, revenants desecrate graveyards, ghouls devour helpless passersby, and incubi stalk dark alleys and seedy nightclubs in Italy's capital. Deep in the Vatican, a brotherhood exists, sworn protectors of the earth, and they stand against the darkness. Operating in secret and silence, they protect our world from the sinister, the etheric, and the evils that exist beyond the Veil. But it's a lonely life, and Alain Autenburg knows that more than most. His lover was ripped from him years ago, and he vowed never to get close to another soul again. Even when the loneliness presses down on him, and his empty heart cries out for something more. Something more comes in Cristoph Hasse, a new soldier arriving in Rome to serve in the Pontifical Swiss Guard. Young, brash, and fitting in at right angles everywhere he goes, Cristoph struggles in the murky, deceptive labyrinth of the Vatican. Propelled forward by a past he can't understand, Cristoph collides with Alain as both men crash headfirst into the darkest secret of the Vatican... and of the world.

Before Ethan returns to DC… Before he becomes Jack’s first gentleman… Jack and Ethan share their first Christmas together. Step back to Jack and Ethan’s first Christmas season and the tentative early months of their relationship under the world’s spotlight. Three months into Ethan’s transfer-in-exile in Des Moines, Iowa, the pressures of dating Jack, the president of the United States, start to wear Ethan down. His weeks are measured by the days he works in Iowa, chasing counterfeiters and financial crimes, and the weekends he manages to steal with Jack back in DC. The media stalks his every move, he’s isolated by his coworkers, and loneliness hammers at his heart. In DC, Jack tries to piece together a global alliance to take down the Caliphate, while the world seems focused on tearing apart his personal life. Hostility surrounds him from all corners of the globe, but a surprise offer from President Sergey Puchkov may pave the way for a tentative alliance…and perhaps the beginning of a friendship. As Ethan finds himself in the middle of an investigation that rubs too deeply against his soul and Jack tries to balance leading the free world and keeping his and Ethan’s relationship going, the two men must face what their love has become…and where they are heading together.

Three scorching high heat stories that will leave you sweating and breathless! "It's my first time..." In this erotic bundle, take a walk on the seductive side as you watch three men succumb to their deepest homoerotic desires: In Spring Break Fever, meet Kevin, who finds a gorgeous and captivating stranger on the beach during Spring Break. In Business Class, meet Luke, who falls under the seductive spell of another traveler while stuck in an airport during a blizzard. And feel your way through a man's first time in a small town as You uncover his secret. His First Time is a scorching, high heat, erotic bundle, suitable for adult readers that crave seeing a man submit to his deepest homoerotic desires. If you’re hungry for blistering scenes of breathless, man-on-man action, this bundle is for you! If not, turn back now…

Let me earn it. I keep things simple. I’m a classic one-night wonder. Relationships? Are you out of your mind? No. No way. Not interested. My heart is vulcanized rubber, puck hard, and that’s the way I like it. Then I'm traded to the absolute worst team in the NHL, the Rocky Mountain Outlaws, and I’m hit with a one-two punch. First: I’m asked to step up and lead the team, which is every kind of bad idea you can imagine. I'm a head-down, mind-my-business kind of guy. Mr. Uninvolved, Mr. No, Not Me, Mr. Find Someone Else. But these players have been through a mess of hell, and someone thinks I can help pull them together. The Outlaws are made up of jaded veterans and wide-eyed rookies, and we have no business whatsoever succeeding. We are scrappy and plucky and built out of spit and duct-tape… and whatever we’re doing, it’s working. Second: The first day I’m in Boulder, I go over the boards and come face-to-face with a pair of blue eyes and lose my heart. Boy, howdy: meet my new co-captain, Shea Darling. He’s way, way off-limits. It's a stratospherically terrible idea to want or crave him. This crush, this infatuation, is going nowhere fast. Yeah, right. I’m gone for Shea. I’m head over heels, and I’m all tangled up in something I can’t understand or control. This isn’t me. I don’t fall in love. And there’s nothing simple about Shea, or about the Outlaws. This team is finally putting up the wins, and we are making something of ourselves. Falling for my co-captain while we’re on a Cinderella run could jeopardize everything we’re striving for. But then there’s this one night. And this one kiss. And everything changes. Eighty-two games in a season. Twenty men hungry for redemption. One co-captain who could be my forever. This is the rest of the story. ***** The Rest of the Story is a friends-to-lovers, hockey players/teammates MM romance, and includes themes of survivorship. The Rest of the Story is set in the same universe as Gravity, but each novel can be read independently. You do not need to read Gravity first to enjoy The Rest of the Story.