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Tropes: Fake Relationship, Hidden Identity, Small Town
Opposites Attract, Only One Bed, Forced Proximity
Release Date: September 15, 2026
A fake engagement to the hot sheriff who escorted me to family camp? Weirdly delightful.
Failing to tell him that my family is a bunch of professional thieves? Small oversight.
I left the Callahan family business years ago. These days I’m a law-abiding citizen. A photographer who takes nothing but pictures. A man who’s learned not to get greedy for anything… or anyone.
But my family hasn’t gotten that memo, so I expect my week at family camp to be filled with guilt-trippy attempts to lure me back into the fold.
Until Holden Axford comes along… and everything goes axe backwards.
Winsome’s gorgeous sheriff was supposed to be nothing more than a one-night-stand.
He doesn’t have a clue why I’m dreading this week, but he takes his protection game seriously.
So when he thinks I need a rescue, he steps in and declares himself my fiancé… and I’m too busy swooning to argue.
Now Holden’s sharing my bed, stealing kisses like Callahans steal Rembrandts, planning a camp heist (for fun, obvs!), and charming my family of criminals.
Our motto is ‘Callahans don’t get caught’ but nobody warned me about catching feelings.
Unfortunately, secrets don’t stay buried forever. And when someone forces the Callahans toward one last impossible job, protecting the family I love means becoming the man I swore I’d never be again.
But if Holden learns the truth about my past, it’ll be goodbye fake engagement, goodbye sheriff… goodbye heart.
I've been anticipating Holden's book since he ran into the pole at the end of Hot Axe...and I loved it. While it might not be my favorite of the series, it's hard to beat Robbie and Ames in Hot Axe, Axe Backwards is still so good! I loved the build up, the emotions, and the Merritt and Holden interact. A thief and a sheriff...what can go wrong? Throw in a family of thieves and the Axford clan, and you have a recipe for a great story! This is one you definitely want to read. You will laugh and clutch your pearls, but you will keep turning page after page as you watch the love develop and grow between these two men. 4 stars!
May is an M/M author who lives in Boston. She spends her days raising three incredibly sarcastic children, alternating eating Jax and Tostitos, planning beach vacations, avoiding the gym, reading M/M romance, and occasionally writing it.
Tropes: Opposites Attract, Small Town, Protective Hero
Release Date: September 15, 2026
BLURB
Mirren Jones is a damn good spy. Even if it means half-truths, secret identities, and a little deception with those she loves.
When an op tosses her headlong into Strider Anderson, she ignores the sexy man and does what she’s trained to do—get in, get the job done, and get out.
But the universe keeps putting him in her path, and “getting out” isn’t nearly as easy as one would think.
He’s tangled with her family, in her assignments, and between her sheets.
After living a life in secret, she wants to be seen, and Strider looks at her like he knows every secret she’s hiding. He worships the woman beneath the aliases and offers her a future she's never allowed herself to imagine.
So when a mission forces Mirren to choose between the career she’s built and the man who’s taught her how to truly live, more than just her secrets are threatened.
Hadley’s a taco connoisseur, a devout coffee drinker, and spends as much time as she can outside. She loves to cook, dance, and have conversations with imaginary people in her head. She also loves adverbs.
When she's not writing stories about smart heroines and their swoonworthy heroes, she's reading stories about the same.
Book Title: Hilarina and the Ogre (and an extended epilogue, The Ogre Comes Home)
Author and Publisher: October Arden
Cover Artist: Dhananjaya
Release Dates: September 15, 2026 (The Ogre Comes Home: October 13)
Tense/POV: Close third, past tense, alternating POV
Genres: MM Contemporary Romance with dark elements
For Hilarina and the Ogre: Friends to lovers, found family, ace/demi spectrum romance, protector hero, first love, bullying, size difference, hurt/comfort, dark themes with a hopeful core.
For The Ogre Comes Home: Reunion romance, hurt/comfort, amnesia, recovery from trauma, meeting the parents (again), marriage proposal, domestic intimacy
Heat Rating: 2 flames
Length: 81 000 words (17 000 words for the epilogue)
It is a main story, plus an epilogue with no cliffhanger.
A ballerina, an ogre, and a love that refuses to stay forgotten.
BlurbHilary Davis knows how to disappear.After years of being mocked as "Hilarina Ballerina," he's perfected the act. He has a popular girlfriend he can't stand, friends he doesn't trust, and a strict rule never to dance where anyone can see. It's a brittle kind of safety, but it's all he has.Then he meets Trenton Wells.Massive, solemn, and the school's most devoted outcast, Trenton doesn't play by anyone's rules. He reads through every class, speaks with unnerving calm, and sees straight through every mask Hilary wears — including the ones Hilary himself doesn't know he's wearing.What starts as a simple trade (calculus tutoring for ballet lessons) becomes something neither of them can walk away from. Choosing Trenton means losing every shield Hilary built to survive. But as the town's cruelty sharpens from slurs to violence, Trenton is willing to become any kind of monster to keep Hilary safe, and Hilary will tear his own world apart to stay at his ogre's side.What they don't know yet is that some devotions outlast memory itself — and some damage can only be undone by the people brave enough to keep choosing each other.Spanning youth and adult trauma, Hilarina and the Ogre is a dark, fiercely tender queer romance exploring the scars of first love, the fragile hope of second chances, and the unyielding weight of an absolute love.
The Epilogue
Trenton Wells remembers everything now.The family that loves him. The years of forgetting. And the man who followed him across state lines, through seven separate lifetimes, without once giving up (even when it nearly destroyed him.)So coming home should be the easy part, but Trenton can't stop tallying the cost. The fifteen years of life Hilary spent chasing him. A body that still flinches at the wrong touch. And an arm that aches when it rains, a permanent reminder of the night that shattered them both.Hilary doesn't want his guilt, he wants his ogre — whole, present, and done apologizing for the things that were never his fault.The Ogre Comes Home is the story about what happens after the rescue, and the fumbling, fierce, and sometimes ridiculous work of re-building a life with the only person who matters.Excerpt The next day was worse. They were smart enough to take their bags with them when they went to lunch, but when they returned to the classroom, there was semen on their desks and smeared into their textbooks. Hilary probably would have recognized it for what it was regardless, but the empty condom wrappers helped. It brought the fear back, and not lightly. He couldn’t afford to replace his textbooks. When he went to Varda, he struggled to keep his voice even. “Knock it off.”She turned those pretty eyes up at him. “Knock what off?”“Do you know how expensive textbooks are?”“I can think of one way for you to get money.”He might have taken her up on it. It wasn’t just his own books that had been ruined, after all. But Trenton took him by the wrist and dragged him away. “Don’t talk to her.”“She’s responsible for this. If I accept her offer—”“And for the rest of the year have her around while I’m with you? Don’t. I’ll buy the books.”Hilary had to ask. And it wasn’t because of the condoms or the spray paint. “Do you—” But he had no idea how to make the words come out. How did you form words like that? And say them out loud?But Trenton knew what he was asking. “So to be in your life I have to want to fuck you? Is that it?” The boy didn’t shout the words. His voice was even as always. But he was angry, and it frightened a weenie like Hilary to hear it. Even knowing the anger wasn’t directed his way, and that Trenton was the only person in school who cared about him, it was frightening. “It’s just that you’re nice. You’re too nice to me. And the things you say. No one else says things like that.”“Yes, they do.”“In books, but not—”“I’m not going to be an asshole just to fit your notion of friendship. I finally found you. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to find you.”That was just more evidence against the boy. Trenton could have grabbed him by the face and shoved his tongue down his throat, and it wouldn’t have been more shocking to Hilary than those words were. But Trenton still wasn’t done. “People like me—we don’t get chosen. We live our quiet lives just trying not to take up space, hoping to get through each day so we can disappear into a book by the end of it. But you chose me. When you came to talk to me, and when you asked for help with the math. You didn’t mean for it to become anything. But what else could I do? I had to try. With you—because it was you—I had no choice but to try.”Hilary’s eyes were prickling. It was the words, yes. Words he’d never heard in his life. But also the tone. Trenton was still calm, or trying to be, but it was like he’d spent the whole morning reading aloud; his voice was hoarse with it.Hilary was forced to look down, unable to meet that earnest expression head-on. “I’m ordinary. I’m so ordinary, Trent. I’m not even smart, why would you—”Trenton hugged him, though it was more accurate to say he grabbed him, those arms like a vise. “I wanted this,” the boy said, meaning the embrace, “I wanted to do this since the night of the party.”That was impossible to believe. “While we were sorting through the garbage?” “When you offered the trade. To teach me while I taught you.”So even earlier, then.“But that was selfish,” Hilary objected. “I needed you more than you needed me.”“I’ll always need you.” Trenton’s face was in his shoulder, a little muffled, but not enough to obscure the words. It left Hilary helpless, his hands raised, hovering there at the boy’s back. “This isn’t normal. What you’re saying—whatever’s happening—”“And you want to be normal, do you? Because you were enjoying it so much. Your girlfriend and your fake friends.”It came again—that urge to hit Trenton. No, not hit him. Hilary wasn’t sure what it was, but it made his hands clench, and finally, finally, he was able to grab hold, his fingers crushing Trenton’s shirt in his hands. “I’m not worth it. You’re going to see. You’re going to be so embarrassed when you wake up and realize.” “Then let me be embarrassed,” Trenton said. “I promise you’ll be waiting longer than I will.”
October Arden writes emotionally raw queer stories that live somewhere between literary fiction and romance. Their work explores fluid identities, found families, co-dependent devotion, and complicated love—often through the lens of characters who are chronically ill, neurodivergent, or quietly self-destructive. These are stories for anyone who's ever felt unwanted or unseen, where even the most damaged hearts can find a home.October loves hearing from readers, so feel free to reach out, ask questions, or suggest what you'd like to see next. You can also join the newsletter to stay in touch—and as a thank you, you'll receive a free copy of Starting with Cake, a quietly unhinged neurodivergent love story full of snack cakes, janitor uniforms, and the kind of care that sneaks up on you. Find out about new books and other extras at octoberarden.com
Length: 90,000 Series: South Shore Serpents #1 Prior Reading: Prior reading NOT required Genre: Dark, Sports, New Adult/College, Contemporary, Polyamory Tropes:
- MMM - Hockey Romance - Enemies to Lovers - Best Friends to Lovers - Masked men - Bi Awakening - Pining - touch him and die - found family
Trigger/Content Warnings: Explicit sex scenes, dubcon, history of child abuse, history of abduction, murder, attempted murder, violence, mention of child murder, ptsd, severe injury, stalking, dog napping (but funny) Designer: Sandra Maldo
I was never anyone's first choice. Until two monsters made me their only one.
One bad decision leads me into the woods and straight into the hands of two masked strangers who chase me through the dark, pin me down, and leave me questioning everything I thought I knew about myself.
Then I learn who they are. Serpents.
And not just any Serpents, but six-foot-ten Hunter Kincaid and his other half, six-foot-eight Atlas Trembley. Atlas gets under my skin like a splinter. He fights me, steals from me, and doesn't care that I want to kill him. He's counting on it.
Hunter doesn't speak. He takes. He decides. And he's decided on me. They even call me Little Titan like I belong to them.
The worst part? I want to belong to the two hockey players who fight over marshmallows and look at me like I'm the best thing that's ever happened to them.
But Hunter's past isn't done with him. And when it threatens to tear us apart, I learn exactly what kind of monsters my Serpents are.
My eyes fall on the one person I never expected to see here, and I stop dead in my tracks. Maybe six cars away is one very familiar Titan.
Cody Jenkins.
The mouthy little shit who keeps coming back, no matter how many times I put him on his ass. Five ten, maybe, built low and compact, and stubborn enough to swing at me even though I've got ten inches and sixty pounds on him.
I like fighting him. There's something about the way he refuses to stay down that makes putting him there more fun than it should be. "Well, this night just got more interesting."
Hunter walks up beside me. “Why the fuck is he here?”
Good question. Jenkins doesn't have a mask on. Doesn't have an armband on either. His hands are shoved into the front pocket of his hoodie, and his head is swiveling like he's looking for someone specific, not looking to play.
He stalks past us, close enough that I could reach out and grab the back of his neck. His shoulders tense as he does, but he's too busy scanning the crowd to look twice.
Then his steps falter, body going rigid.
Can’t tell what he’s looking at since his back is to me, but he’s facing our captain, who’s surrounded by three women. I tilt my head, watching. “Does he know it’s Cap? Bet he’ll start shit if he figures it out. Kind of hope he does.”
Hunter doesn't respond. He's too locked in on Jenkins.
Everyone starts making their way to the designated areas, marking the start of the event. Those with green armbands move toward the tree line while the people with blue armbands gather at the traffic cones near the parking lot.
Hunter and I slip on our blue armbands and hang a few feet back from Jenkins. He doesn't move to either group. Just stands there, watching the crowd sort itself around him as if he unknowingly wandered into someone else's game.
I grin under my mask, bouncing on my toes. "He didn't sign up for this, and he definitely came looking for a fight."
Hunter grunts. "He found one."
Whatever tonight was supposed to be just got replaced by something else. The pining, the threesome I didn't want, the girl who's pretty like a painting—gone.
The Titan is on our turf . . . and this I know what to do with.
Jenkins checks his phone, then tucks it into his back pocket. He maneuvers through the pack, edging closer to our captain.
The first airhorn blares, and those wearing green armbands run into the woods.
I shake out my hands, muscles flexing, blood surging through my body. Under my mask, my lips are pulled into a wide grin. But it’s not friendly.
Hunter is still beside me. Poised. Locked in.
The second horn blares, and our group takes off. Jenkins is ahead of us, cutting through the pack with the same quick, aggressive stride he uses on the ice.
That’s right, you cocky little shit. Run. Because I’m coming to get you.
EV Olsen is an MM romance author who loves to write about Over The Top alpha males who are possessive and completely obsessed with their person or mate. Nothing will get in their way from claiming what's theirs. EV enjoys writing angsty or darkish type romances whether set in contemporary, PNR, or even post-apocalyptic worlds.
A new, shockingly forbidden standalone from New York Times bestselling authors Penelope Ward and Vi Keeland…
Sometimes one floor is all that separates the life you planned from the life you never saw coming…
Moving to New York with my boyfriend, Calder, was supposed to be a fresh start.
A new city. A new job. A beautiful brownstone in Brooklyn we'd call home. The beginning of our forever.
There was just one catch: Calder’s best friend lived in the apartment downstairs.
Rafe—a gifted artist who smashed glass into masterpieces. With his unruly blond hair and piercing eyes that seemed to see right through me, he was impossible to ignore.
He was also completely off-limits.
Yet somehow, every walk past his apartment or trip to the basement laundry room turned into another deep conversation neither of us ever wanted to end.
At first, it was innocent.
Then I found myself looking forward to running into him again.
Before long, I was creating opportunities to be around him.
Somehow, Rafe and I made each other feel seen in ways neither of us expected.
I tried to ignore our connection, reminding myself that Calder’s best friend was the last man on Earth I could ever fall for.
But with every stolen moment, that lie became harder to believe.
Maybe some love stories aren't about finding the right person—but what happens when you find them too late.
Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of contemporary romance.
She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son, and beautiful daughter with autism.
With millions of books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and the author of over thirty novels. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.
Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles are currently translated in twenty-seven languages and have appeared on bestseller lists in the US, Germany, Brazil, Bulgaria and Hungary. Three of her short stories have been turned into films, and two of her books are currently optioned for movies. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.
