UPDATE: The winner is…Jennifer Beyer!
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Thank you, Delilah, for hosting me today!  I’m here to share a new book. As you may know, I love writing short stories for charity anthologies and when I saw this one by The New Romance Café, I signed up right away.  Amazingly, I’ve never written a story with this trope, so I was excited to try.  Since I write gay romances, I knew my story would have a bit of a different twist.  Tanner loves his best friend, Nita.  They’ve been friends forever.  When Tanner turned twelve, he witnessed an incident between Nita’s brother Kade and a bully.  Kade, although only sixteen, had come out as gay.  A boy from another school didn’t like that and a brawl ensued. Tanner realized, for the first time, that he was also gay.  And that he sort of had a crush on Kade.

Fast forward fifteen years and the men have taken very different paths in life.  Yet both wind up back at Nita and Kade’s family home frequently.  One night, Kade comes on to Tanner.  Nita’s, uh, annoyed.  So is Kade’s best friend, Cam.  Kade’s been a player.  Nita and Cam are worried he’ll date Tanner for a bit, break his heart, and walk away without a backward glance. Tanner, though, is all grown up.

Now, I won’t give away the rest of the story, but things definitely get interesting.

So why best friend’s brother?  I think it’s something readers can often relate to.  I know I can.  I had a huge crush on my best friend Chrissy’s older brother.  He was nice to me, but clearly had no interest in an eleven-year-old girl (yeah, I knew I liked boys when I was super young).

When I signed up to write a story for this anthology, of course I wondered about how the story might be different if my character was gay.  I adore Tanner and wanted to make certain that not only was his relationship with Nita strong, but that his crush was genuine and could grow into love.

With over twenty stories in this anthology, there’ll be something for everyone.  And, best of all, the proceeds go to Breast Cancer Research.  I hope everyone grabs a copy today!

As a thanks for letting me drop by, I’m happy to give away a $5 Amazon Gift Card to one random commenter.  Have you read this trope before?  Do you enjoy it, or is there something else that you would one click as well?  Best of luck and thanks, Delilah.

Breaking the BFF Pact

We all know the rule – Do not lust over your best friend’s sibling. But what happens when you break all the rules? Will Breaking the BFF Pact get you a happily ever after? Or will you lose it all?

Read titillating stories from USA Today best-selling and award-winning romance authors in a spicy Best Friend’s Sibling collection curated by The New Romance Cafe, with ALL proceeds going to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Authors:
Keighley Bradford
Serafina Jax
Guinevere Jordan
A.R. Bell
Michelle Moncrieff
Katina J. Rose
Melanie Greene
Hannah McKee
Chelle Pimblott
Jewelz Baxter
Bethany Monaco Smith
Chele MacCabe
Kat Long
Jenna Daring
Noa Camhi & Lashe’ Lacroix
Heather Scarlett
Sofia Aves
Wynter Ryan
Sarah Stein
Harper Michaels
Niki Trento
Tasha Blythe
Gabbi Grey

The anthology will only be available for a limited time.

Links:
Universal Link:
https://books2read.com/tnrc2023breakingthebffpact
Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-BFF-Pact-Friends-Collection-ebook/dp/B0BSDXNDHT
Add it to Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200600069-breaking-the-bff-pact

About “Jeopardy” inside Breaking the BFF Pact by Gabbi Grey

Tanner

I’ve had a crush on my best friend Nita’s brother for fifteen years. She’s made it clear she doesn’t want me hooking up with him, and he’s never shown any interest. Until the night we wind up in the pool alone together and then everything changes. Is he serious about his interest in me, or will he want to forget in the morning? Have I ruined everything with my best friend for one meaningless night?

Kade

My life is perfect until the moment I realize I’m attracted to my younger sister’s best friend. Now, my eyes are open, and my need to get Tanner into my bed is impossible to resist. But with my best friend warning me off and my sister giving me the evil eye, I’m having second thoughts. Are my feelings for Tanner serious enough to lead to forever?

This is a 7k gay, best friend’s brother’s romance short story with an interfering best friend, a bossy sister, and the possibility of love becoming realized.

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling author Gabbi Grey lives in beautiful British Columbia where her fur baby chin-poo keeps her safe from the nasty neighborhood squirrels. Working for the government by day, she spends her early mornings writing contemporary, gay, sweet, and dark erotic BDSM romances. While she firmly believes in happy endings, she also believes in making her characters suffer before finding their true love. She also writes m/f romances as Gabbi Black and Gabbi Powell.

You know you could write a story in one weekend, right? It’s JUST 2500 to 5500 words, give or take!
ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE! DD

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SECRET IDENTITIES:  A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY
Editor: Delilah Devlin
Deadline: December 15, 2023

SECRET IDENTITIES is open to all authors.

Editor/Author Delilah Devlin is looking for stories for a romantic erotica anthology tentatively entitled SECRET IDENTITIES:  A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY.

Why write a short story for this collection? Well, it’s certainly not about making a lot of money, so why do it at all? I’ve said this before, many times, but here are my thoughts…

Writing a short story for a call for submissions is a chance to flex your writing muscle! It can be a chance to experiment with a genre you’ve never written. If you’ve never written a story in first person but don’t want to begin by writing an entire novel using it, start short! For myself, I’ve written stories in new genres or with fresh themes that ended up being so much fun to write they’ve spawned entire series.

You have a deadline! I don’t know about you, but I have trouble keeping my butt in the chair without one!

It’s a promotional opportunity! If selected, you’ll be joined by 12-15 other authors for the launch, sharing your audiences and, hopefully, picking up new readers along the way. Having your story in the collection is another chance to be “seen.”

And remember, you retain the rights to your story, so you can republish it for individual sale or give it away to attract subscribers to your newsletter. You might even decide there’s more story to tell and expand your short story into a novel.

Here’s what I’m looking for…

SECRET IDENTITIES: A BOYS BEHAVING BADLY ANTHOLOGY will include stories that satisfy the reader who craves stories about mysterious, enigmatic men. Perhaps, they’re the new next-door neighbor with a mysterious past that finds him just as he’s meeting a woman he doesn’t want to leave. Maybe he’s an alien from a far-away galaxy looking for his fated mate. Could he be a spy setting up surveillance on another suspected spy? An assassin scouting his target who discovers his handlers lied about the reasons for targeting a particular individual he’s intrigued by? Is he a werewolf living in the human world? Yes! So many ways to go.

SECRET IDENTITIES will seek stories with varied settings here on earth—present, past, or future—or on another planet or moon in this solar system or in a galaxy far, far, away.  Heroes and heroines might be more than human—supernatural creatures or even aliens and cyborgs.

I’m open to any subgenre of erotic romance you want to write. I’ll accept contemporary, historical, science fiction, or paranormal stories, and I won’t be picky about whether the stories are hetero, LGBT, ménage… Basically, you, the author, can go anywhere your imagination takes you so long as 1) the story is a romance, and 2) you have a bad boy somewhere on the pages!

The anthology will be sold at a low price—my intent is exposure for you and your writing. The more readers reached, the better! You will retain the rights to your story so that, at a later date, you can republish your stories individually.

I’m seeking hot and inventive stories from authors with unique voices, and above all, I’m looking to be seduced by tales filled with vivid imagery and passion.

Published authors with an established world may use that setting for their original short story.

This is erotic romance, so don’t hold back on the heat. Stories can be vanilla or filled with kink but don’t miss describing the romantic connection between strong-willed individuals learning to trust and love one another. A deep sensuality should linger in every word. Keep in mind that there must be a romantic element with a happy-for-now or happy-ever-after ending. Strong plots, engaging characters, and unique twists are the ultimate goal. Please, no reprints. I want original stories.

How to submit: Prepare your 2,500 to 5,500 words story in a double-spaced, Arial, 12-point, black font, Word document (.doc or .docx) OR rich text format (.rtf), with pages numbered. Indent the first line of each paragraph half an inch and double space (regular double spacing; do not add extra lines between paragraphs or do any other irregular spacing). U.S. grammar (double quotation marks around dialogue, etc.) is required.

In your document at the top left of the first page, include your legal name (and pseudonym, if applicable), mailing address, email address, and a 50-words or less biography, written in the third person, and send to bbbsecretidentities@gmail.com. If you are using a pseudonym, please provide your real name and pseudonym and make it clear which one you’d like to be credited as. Authors may submit up to 2 stories. I will try to respond no later than March 15, 2024, with decisions.

Payment will be USD 25.00 ninety days after publication at the end of that month.

Who is Delilah Devlin?

Delilah Devlin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance and erotic romance. She has published over two hundred stories in multiple genres and lengths and has been published by Atria/Strebor, Avon, Berkley, Black Lace, Cleis Press, Ellora’s Cave, Entangled, Grand Central, Harlequin Spice, HarperCollins: Mischief, Kensington, Kindle, Montlake, Penthouse, Running Press, and Samhain Publishing.

Her short stories have appeared in multiple Cleis Press collections, including Lesbian Cowboys, Girl Crush, Fairy Tale Lust, Lesbian Lust, Passion, Lesbian Cops, Dream Lover, Carnal Machines, Best Erotic Romance (2012), Suite Encounters, Girl Fever, Girls Who Score, Duty and Desire, Best Lesbian Romance of 2013, and On Fire. For Cleis Press, she edited Girls Who Bite, She Shifters, Cowboy Lust, Smokin’ Hot Firemen, High Octane Heroes, Cowboy Heat, Hot Highlanders and Wild Warriors, and Sex Objects.

She has also edited Conquests: An Anthology of Smoldering Viking Romance, Rogues: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Blue Collar: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Pirates: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Stranded: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, First Response: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, Cowboys: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology, and Silver Soldiers: A Boys Behaving Badly Anthology.

Direct any questions regarding your story or the submission process to Delilah at bbbsecretidentities@gmail.com.