Showing results for "V" in LGBTQ+

I never imagined the ruthless Titan would choose me as his rebellion, or that I’d become his shield. Hockey was supposed to be my ticket to stability, earning me a scholarship for an education I could never have afforded on my own. Until Connor Walsh, the ruthless star of the Crestwood hockey team and my captain, corners me with an ultimatum that changes everything. Marry him, or watch my scholarship—and my entire future—disappear. It's blackmail, pure and simple. A calculated move in whatever twisted game he's playing with his equally ruthless father.

I caught the attention of a savage beast. My fault–ish after I crashed into Crestwood hockey team's star defenseman on my way to class. In typical Eli Holmes fashion, instead of walking away after he threw my books across the hall, I stood up to Alexei Petrov. Even sat right next to him in class, letting him know exactly what I thought of his brutish behavior. Someone should’ve reminded me not to go around poking monsters. But I’m not one to cower. Until a heated encounter leads to a steamy kiss.

I never imagined my biggest rival would become my greatest temptation. Jackson Reed has been a thorn in my side since the day we met–always running his mouth, always itching for a fight. Our rivalry on the ice has left us bruised and bloodied countless times. When our teams end up at the same hotel for the Regional Championships, the brutal Titan gets under my skin in a whole new way. A fight turns into a chase through the woods, and when I’m caught, it ignites a forbidden fire within me that can’t be stifled.

In the lonely years following the death of her fiancé, Helen is unable to move on with her life. But life itself is moving on around her literally: The building of a dam is forcing her small town and her family home to relocate. But the construction project means more than the loss of a home. Helens brother, Robbie, who disappeared without a trace 15 years earlier, suddenly resurfaces. As he re-enters his sisters life, he reveals the secret of why he left in the first place: a secret that tore their family apart, and affected Helens life in more ways than she ever realized.

College hockey rivals turned lovers Jackson Reed and Killian Blackwell are about to face their toughest match yet: Christmas with both their families at the Reed mansion. Between sexual tension to melt the estate's ice sculptures, and a shared future that's anything but certain, this holiday season is bound to be unforgettable.

Falling for the unhinged Titan was never in the playbook. Taking the job as assistant coach for Crestwood’s hockey team is supposed to be my fresh start—until I meet Viktor Novotny. The uncontrollable goalie is a chaotic force, pushing every boundary and testing the limits of my self-control. His ice-blue eyes follow me everywhere, making him impossible to ignore. He’s not just trouble—he’s the exact kind I need to avoid. When an explosive confrontation morphs into a pulse-pounding encounter, I cross the line between coach and player, torn between responsibility and forbidden desire.

Tough and demanding LAPD Detective Kate Delafield is the leader of the investigation into a high-rise office building murder. The case is intriguing but routine - until Kate interviews the only witness, Ellen O'Neil. When Ellen O'Neil took her new job over the objections of her lover, she wasn't expecting to become embroiled in murder. The curiosity that Kate Delafield rouses is equally unexpected. But it is never far from Ellen's mind that she is merely a name on an interview sheet to the tight-lipped detective.

Arlo Bonetti has enjoyed a life of unparalleled luxury. As the sole heir to a global olive oil empire, he's traveled the world, indulged in every pleasure, and never known a day of responsibility. Amidst a series of scandals, the latest being the most outrageous in Arlo's eventful life, his father decides to intervene. Taking control of Arlo's trust fund, he issues an ultimatum: he has a year to grow up, or he'll lose access to the family's immense fortune.

Elias Lake is facing a personal and professional crisis. The world-famous star of countless action movies has been outed on social media. By an ex-lover with a poisonous ax to grind. His life and reputation as "The World's Only Remaining Manly Man"—the studio's PR words, not his—is hiding in his mansion in the L.A. hills, trying to sort out where to go now. The media is camped outside his gates, the studio heads are up in arms, and his legion of fans is ready to fire up the torches and grab their pitchforks.

The intimacy of a cabin at Lake Tahoe provides the combustible circumstances that bring Diana Holland and Lane Christianson together in this passionate novel of first discovery.

In Teach like an Ally, veteran classroom teacher and celebrated transgender advocate Flint Del Sol weaves humor, storytelling, and expertise into a guide for educator-allies. Del Sol offers actionable strategies that you can implement in classrooms. He also tackles the complex questions teachers face: What should you do when a student asks for one name in the classroom, but another at home?

When India falls to her death from a bridge over a railway, her sister, Poppy, returns home to Brighton for the first time in years. Unconvinced by official explanations, Poppy begins her own investigation into India's death. But the deeper she digs, the closer she comes to uncovering deeply buried secrets. Could Matthew Temple, the boyfriend she abandoned, be involved? And what of his powerful and wealthy parents and his twin sister, Ana?

Atlanta's notorious narcotics task force is at it again. They are stronger, bigger, and better than ever. Especially when a city councilman sends RECON Marine Edwin Steele - who's been blacklisted from his Oakland department - to join the team. Steele was ready to hang up his shield. He was done fighting with bigoted bastards that couldn't respect the job. He was good at fighting; he just needed the right team to fight with. When his uncle - City Councilman Rasmus Steele - shows him a video of God's team in action, he knows right away it's where his nephew belongs.

In this long-awaited new installment of the legendary Kate Delafield mystery series, Kate is forced to confront her most formidable opponent: herself. Kate Delafield is in a world of trouble. Five months into mandated retirement from the LAPD, her long term on-again off-again relationship with Aimee Grant is off again. She's become hopelessly dependent on the only substance that can drown her pain over Aimee - and the illness of her best friend. She is lost without her police career and beset by terrifying dreams.

On Thanksgiving Day, LAPD homicide detective Kate Delafield and her partner, Ed Taylor, are called to an apartment building on the edge of Beverly Hills to investigate a premeditated and pitiless murder. No one appears particularly grieved by the shocking end to old-time Hollywood director Owen Sinclair. Surely not three other tenants of the Beverly Malibu, who worked in the motion picture industry during the blacklist years and loathed Sinclair.

Entlang der trostlosen Kanäle Venedigs, wo die Kälte des Novembers die Atmosphäre durchdringt, verliert Francesco zunehmend den Halt. Seine Familie bleibt weiterhin im Dunkeln - keine Nachricht, keine Spur. Die Beziehung zu Damiano gerät unter Druck, und seine Verwirrung nimmt zu, als kleine Missgeschicke sich zu unheimlichen Stimmen und einem schwindenden Verstand verdichten. Während Damiano hin- und hergerissen ist zwischen Fürsorge um seinen Geliebten und den drohenden Schatten, die dessen Verstand zu umgarnen scheinen, tritt auch Edoardo mit finsteren Absichten auf die Bühne.

John Watson loves his husband, but he'd like Sherlock Holmes to leave this case alone. They're supposed to be taking a break from London and from work, but when has Sherlock's brain ever taken a holiday? And honestly, the disappearance of Gloria Evans bothers them both - though for very different reasons. Not every case has to be high-stakes. Not everything is a matter of life or death. But sometimes it is.

Kate Delafield is at war. With LAPD's Department of Internal Affairs which is challenging her conduct during an arrest gone disastrously wrong. With the police psychologist who holds in her hands the power to keep Kate off the job—and is exercising it.

Driven by insatiable curiosity about a past Kate has adamantly refused to share, Aimee has maneuvered her into attending what Aimee views as an innocuous reunion of the men and women with whom Kate served as a Marine Corps officer in Vietnam twenty-five years ago. The past resurfaces with a vengeance. First, shots are fired into their hotel room. Then a savage murder is committed by someone attending the reunion. Kate finds herself embroiled in a murder investigation in a city where she has no jurisdiction, confronted by detectives who view her with contentious suspicion.

An economist demonstrates how LGBT equality and inclusion within organizations increases their bottom line and allows for countries’ economies to flourish We know that homophobia harms LGBT individuals in many ways, but economist M. V. Lee Badgett argues that in addition to moral and human...