Books published by Ninestar Press, LLC

Nick Bedford coaches the men''s rowing team at California Pacific College, a small liberal arts school in Sacramento. He''s quiet, dedicated-and closeted. He struggles with professional ethics and NCAA rules as he denies his attraction for Morgan Estrada, one of his rowers. While they may not be far apart in age, the difference between coach and athlete leads Nick to worry about exploitation.But Morgan has desires and a mind of his own, and what he wants is his coach. As the spring racing season advances, Morgan feels his coach''s eyes on him. Morgan may be gay, and while he''s not out to team, he hasn''t hidden it, either. It may be a coach''s job to check out an athlete''s form, but Morgan hopes Nick''s interested in more than his technique.Morgan corners Nick in the boathouse, and Nick admits that while he wants Morgan he can''t have him. Morgan laughingly points out that he''s not bound by any of those rules and he wants Nick. Nick and Morgan start a relationship, but Nick worries whenever they''re in public: what if someone sees? An anonymous complaint from a rower to the athletics director sends Nick''s worries into overdrive just as the crew prepares for the make-or-break race of the year.

Dragon ConsultantDane, a supernatural consultant, is hired by the FAA to look into a series of reported dragon attacks on their planes. What Dane finds in the wooded area where the attacks took place is not quite the problem he expected: a group of dragon kits and their sick father hiding from the authorities.When he learns the real reason the family was in the woods, his case grows more dangerous, and though Dane is experienced at both crime solving and watching his own back, taking care of baby dragons and their ill father makes everything else look easy.Dragon DeceptionA life full of children and mysteries to solve doesn''t leave much time for relaxation or each other, something Lumie wants to help fix for Dane and Mercury by way of arranging a picnic. But good intentions and life rarely cooperate, and Dane knows it''s only a matter of time before all hell breaks loose.Hell turns out to be someone using Quicksilver''s name to destroy buildings, but there''s no way to tell whether the enemy is an impostor or a trap. Hopefully it won''t mean missing the picnic.Dragon DilemmaDane hasn''t spoken with his mother in years and he''s never met his father. But somehow his mother finds out about Mercury and the kits anyway, and it''s difficult to throw one''s mother out when she happens to be a powerful, dangerous witch.She isn''t the only uninvited guest, and the others are even less likely to take no for an answer-and much more likely to leave everyone dead if they don''t get what they want.

Savarin honed his Talent through years of study, and to achieve his goal of becoming the most powerful and accomplished sorcerer in Tournai, he made magic his life. Among the wealthy and noble circles he moves in, no one would suspect the handsome, refined, arrogant sorcerer''s humble beginnings-which is how Savarin prefers it. He wants to be seen only as the man he''s made himself. When Tournai''s princes task Savarin with studying and strengthening the spells that protect the principality from magical attack, he is more than happy to do so. The spells are complex, centuries old, and exactly the type of puzzle Savarin is eager to solve. But to his annoyance, the princes insist Loriot accompany him on his journey.Second son of a minor noble family, Loriot worked his way up the ranks of the royal guard to captain with single-minded determination and takes pride in his service to the crown. He must obey the prince''s orders to protect Savarin, despite believing his skills would be best used elsewhere and his wariness of magic. UnTalented himself, Loriot has learned not only the benefits of magic but also its potential for harm-and how to counter it. He still believes it''s best to avoid most magic entirely, which is difficult when he''s tasked with playing guard to a powerful sorcerer.Loriot and Savarin clash repeatedly during their journey, but the simmering tension between them doesn''t only stem from their work, and passion develops into feelings neither expected. But Savarin must still secure Tournai''s magical barrier, and his only solution will endanger both him and the royal family.

A dead intruder. A missing scientist. A terrified child.No one wants a dramatic case first thing on a Monday morning, but that''s exactly what Detective Inspector Jacob Ofori got. It should be open and shut, but scientist Tom Sanders is nowhere to be found, a dead man seems to have appeared from thin air, and the Temporal Research Institute-Sanders''s company-is strangely uncooperative about assisting with the case.Jacob''s only source is TRI engineer, Kit Rafferty. He clearly wants to help, but there''s only so much the man can and will tell him. As more and more impossible questions mount up, Jacob finds himself facing a reality that could change his world.

Connor Molina''s summer can''t get any worse. He''s stuck in his college town taking summer classes, and he''s got a dead-end lifeguard job he''s too old for and a baby gay who''s thirsty for all the wrong guys.Even worse? Tristan, a wild patron, won''t leave his section of the pool, splashing him and pulling stupid stunts to get his attention. When Tristan fakes a drowning to get closer to him, Connor''s furious, but he quickly realizes that Tristan''s reckless nature isn''t always infuriating...it''s also intriguing.Can he let his guard down and let Tristan in, or will he be bound by his own rules and drown in the self-doubt this summer could free him from?

Three great stories. One great love.VGL Male Seeks SamePoor Ethan Schwartz. It seems like he will never find that special someone. At age forty-two, he''s still alone, his bed still empty, and his 42-inch HDTV overworked. He''s tried the bars and other places where gay men are supposed to find one another, but for Ethan, it never works out. He wonders if it ever will. Should he get a cat?But all of that is about to change...NEG UB2Poor Ethan Schwartz. He''s just had the most shocking news a gay man can get-he''s been diagnosed HIV positive. Up until today, he thought his life was on a perfect course. He had a job he loved and something else he thought he''d never have: Brian, a new man, one whom Ethan thought of as "the one." The one who would complete him, who would take his life from a lonely existence to a place filled with laughter, hot sex, and romance.But along with the fateful diagnosis comes another shock-is Brian who he thinks he is?Status UpdatesEthan finds himself alone once more and wonders if life is worth living, even one with a cat. Via a Facebook friend request, an old nemesis appears, wanting to be friends. Ethan is suspicious but intrigued because it seems this old acquaintance has turned his life around...and the changes just might hold the key to Ethan getting a new lease on life...and love.

Living paintings, spectral children, cannibal serial killers, lost souls, haunted houses, and ancient evil proliferate The Door and Other Uncanny Tales. Everywhere reality and fantasy collapse to create a new unstable world, even the body is not what it seems. Combined with Dmetri Kakmi''s gothic imagination and mordant humor, the result is fiction that is as memorable as it is unsettling.This collection contains three new and three previously published stories, including the acclaimed Haunting Matilda, The Long Lonely Road and The Boy by the Gate.

When she arrives in Cherrywood Grove for a working vacation, shy photographer Trisha Ivy expects to kick back and relax, enjoying her last summer of freedom before turning into a real adult with a mortgage and a nine-to-five. After all, her real life is back in Chicago with her best friend Bella, not a sleepy small town. But Trisha keeps running into beautiful, confident Gabi Gonzalez, a caterer working all the same weddings…and she’s the daughter of Trisha’s favorite local TV star. Trisha can’t resist getting to know her. After all, she’s only in town for the summer, and Gabi is straight. What harm could it do?Gabi Gonzalez has spent most of her life trying to escape Cherrywood Grove and find something bigger and better. During an internship in Milwaukee, she thought she’d finally found it. But after her father’s sudden death, she returns home and tries to squeeze back into the same childhood roles: kid sister, cool aunt, tireless worker. She’s just resigned herself to going through the motions when she meets Trisha, someone who finally sees Gabi for her own self instead of putting her in a box. Can Gabi open up to Trisha about what she really wants before Trisha leaves town for good?

Ever been torn between two lovers? That''s Ricky Comparetto''s problem.It''s 1995, and Ricky is making his very first trip across the pond with his best friend. Ricky, hungry for love and looking for it in all the wrong places, finds it in the beach city of Brighton. His new love has the curious name of Walt Whitman and is also an American, which only serves to make him sexier and more intriguing. By the time Walt and Ricky part, promises are made for a reunion in Boston.But the course of true love never runs smoothly. In Chicago Ricky almost immediately falls in love again. Tom Green is a sexy blue-collar beast with the kindest heart Ricky has ever run across.What''s he to do? With a visit to the East Coast on the horizon and a new love blossoming in Ricky''s home of Chicago, Ricky truly is torn.

A modern-day and thought-provoking retelling of Oscar Wilde''s The Picture of Dorian Gray that esteemed horror magazine Fangoria called "...a book that is brutally honest with its reader and doesn''t flinch in the areas where Wilde had to look away.... A rarity: a really well-done update that''s as good as its source material."A beautiful young man bargains his soul away to remain young and handsome forever, while his holographic portrait mirrors his aging and decay and reflects every sin and each nightmarish step deeper into depravity... even cold-blooded murder. Prepare yourself for a compelling tour of the darkest sides of greed, lust, addiction, and violence.

RV, having successfully completed his freshman year at the demanding Boston Latin School, is hoping for a great summer. He''s now fifteen years old and looking forward to sharing many languid summer days with his friend Bobby, who''s told him he has gay feelings too. But life and family and duties for a son of immigrant parents makes it difficult to steal time away with Bobby.Bobby, too, has pressures. He spends part of the summer away at football camp, and his father pushes him to work a summer job at a friend''s accounting firm. Bobby takes the job grudgingly, wanting to spend any extra time practicing the necessary skills to make Latin''s varsity football team.On top of everything, RV''s best friend Carole goes away for the summer, jumping at an opportunity to spend it with her father in Paris. Luckily, there is always Mr. Aniso, RV''s Latin teacher, to talk to whenever RV is lonely. He''s also there for RV when he inadvertently spills one of Bobby''s secrets, and Bobby is so angry RV is afraid he is ready to cut off the friendship.