Authors: Nicholas Bella, E.B. Burns, Abrianna Denae, Elouise R East, Taylor J Gray, Mandy Greenwood, Rorie Kage, Leigh Kenzie, Davidson King, Claire Marta, Faith Ryan
Cover Artist: Teased by Antonette
Release Date: November 15, 2022
Genre: Dark M/M
Tropes: Various
Themes: Dark content featuring holidays. Includes topics from mafia to erotic BDSM and more. Content warning for some pieces include non-con, dub-con, torture, murder, and potentially other dark elements.
Heat Rating: This will vary. Some will be 5 flames.
Length: approx. 165 000 words
As it’s an anthology, some stories may end in a cliffhanger
Sometimes the happiest season of all is hiding the darkest secrets.
Twinkling lights and festive songs are in every shopping center and on every street corner. But what lurks in the dark alleys beyond the main street decorations? Who hides behind the joyful enthusiasts with a dangerous bah humbug attitude?
Join eleven dark MM authors as they explore the darker half of the holidays while also spreading cheer and support to LGBTQ youth.
*O Deadly Night is a Dark MM anthology with all proceeds to be donated to The Trevor Project.
Marley Jacobs is dead, and Max Masters Scrooge has no time for the grieving son’s sob story. Even if Jacobs Jr. is kinda cute—for a nerd.
Daniel Jacobs is anxious, drifting, and lonely. His gut tells him he’s overdue for a dose of self care, but the thought of setting foot in a gym gives him hives. Though he craves gentle guidance, what he gets is the heavy hand of the gym’s head trainer and sleaziest playboy, Max Masters.
Accustomed to topping the leader board, among other things, Max sells Daniel on his gold package. After things get steamy in the locker room showers, Max is ready to make like a ghost and vanish, as usual. But this time, he won’t get away with his selfish antics, not if a vengeful past hookup with a powerful uncle has anything to say about it.
MM Scrooge is a spicy hot horror retelling of A Christmas Carol, as part of the collaboration Monsters & Mayhem: An MM Horror Collection, adapting some of your favorite classic horror stories with an MM romance twist.
Content Warnings:
This book’s list of potential warnings is longer than my grocery list. Buckle in. Readers, feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions. In no particular order: Dub-con that some readers may interpret as non-con. Consent issues. Poorly negotiated BDSM elements. Sexual violence/spanking. Sex as punishment. Death of a parent/grief. Medical kink. Sexually explicit scenes.
That said, this book doesn’t take itself too seriously, and that list might make it look darker than it really is. Better to err of the side of caution.
Excerpt
Just when I think my first workout is done, Max directs me back to the turf. “Now that you’ve got the hang of it, we’ll repeat each station for four rounds. Squats, rotations, rows. Ten reps each. Thirty seconds between stations. Ready?”
I widen my eyes. “I’m sorry. I could have sworn you said four rounds. I must have misheard. What?”
Max grins. “You’ve got this. Round one, Daniel. Knock it out.”
So I do what the man says and squat.
By the time I’m actually done, sweat beads on my forehead and drips down into crevices that are decidedly not meant to be wet in public. Will I be able to walk tomorrow? Time will tell. My arms are made of pudding.
Max’s warm hand lands on my damp back and squeezes my shoulder. “Nice work. You’ve got grit.”
He can’t possibly mean that, but I thank him anyway. I glance up to meet his eyes. His are hazel, ringed brown in the center and green at the edges.
“How do you feel?”
I blink. My heart pounds, and I’m gulping for air like a fish out of water, but…I feel good. Like maybe I could keep going, or I don’t know, jog somewhere or something. Not a feeling I’m accustomed to. “Great, actually.”
He leans in. He’s a head taller, but he stands close enough his breath ruffles my hair. “It’s the endorphins. They’re a rush, huh?”
“Yeah, a rush.” So this is why people work out.
His gaze lingers on mine. “You want to hit the showers?”
“Oh, I don’t need to wash up.” I didn’t come prepared for that. I don’t even have a change of clothes in my bag. “I’m going home after this. I’ll shower there.”
Max arches his dark brows and darts his tongue out, wetting his upper lip. “I didn’t ask if you needed to. I asked if you wanted to.” His eyes trail down my body like a caress and land on my groin. He looks hungry.
And now that I think about it…tasty.
“Oh.” What an offer. It’s not like me to put out on the first date, and this isn’t even date adjacent.
Orgasms fall under the umbrella of self-care, right? Opportunities like this just don’t land in my lap every day. But will sex make future training sessions awkward? I don’t want things to get weird, though rejecting him would do that too, so…
I peer up at him through my lashes, not completely lacking wiles of my own. “Now that you mention it, I am rather dirty.”
Max’s glinting smile could cut diamonds. “Right this way.”
About the Author
Lee Colgin has loved vampires since she read Dracula on a hot, sunny beach at 13 years old. She lives in North Carolina with lots of dogs and her husband. No, he's not a vampire, but she loves him anyway. Lee likes to workout so she can eat the maximum amount of cookies with her pizza. Ask her how much she can bench press.
When true love is a lie and pleasure turns to pain.
Adam Webb spent most of his teenage years in love with his best friend, Gabriel Connor, only to be thrown out of their shared apartment when he finally found the courage to reveal his feelings.
Seven months later, Adam's effort to save their lost friendship finds him more than he ever asked for. After all, being thrown out has to be better than thrown into a wall. However, Adam isn't ready to give up. Trapped and isolated in a dangerous relationship, he falls deeper and deeper into GabrielÃs world.
Despite Adam's attempts to push them away, his friends are determined to help, but the man who fights hardest is Cameron McCain, Adam's photography teacher-a man who treasures what Gabriel does not.
They say love should conquer all. But when passion breeds fear and love turns toxic, will Adam make the right choice?
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of domestic violence and dubious consent.
Carra's Review
There are stories that are lighthearted and sweet, low on the angst and high on the love. If that’s what you’re looking for, then you’re in for a rude awakening with Toxic (the title should have clued you in, right?). This story delves into topics that are upsetting and will be hard for some to read, so take the reader advisory seriously before you start the book. I’m not trying to steer anyone away—on the contrary, this book drives home a message that deserves to be heard and taken to heart. Just be ready to have your heart hurt before all is said and done, and know that Adam has plenty of support—if he can just realize it and take it.
Adam is such a kind, caring, sweet young man…and he so easily falls into the role of victim, becoming the classic, textbook case of one in this story. It tore me apart over and over, and I was yelling at him in my head as I became frustrated with him—he was worth so much more than what he was getting. I quickly came to despise the object of his affection…yes, despise. Gabriel was written to evoke that kind of response, and the author did that job to perfection. The way he seemed to abruptly change from his personality before Adam confessed his feelings to his abusive behavior afterward put questions in my mind, but not having personally experienced an abuse situation had me putting that aside for the purposes of this story.
Cameron, Adam’s teacher, is a wonderful man. The romance side of things between him and Adam is not something you see right away, in fact it took quite a while before anything truly began to develop. Much of the story is focused on Adam’s situation and how it develops, with the relationship between him and Adam being more secondary. The angst factor tops out the charts, and there are multiple scenes that were disturbing—and heartbreaking—to read before things start to look up.
Chris and Dante from Volatile (book 1 in the series) play excellent supporting roles, and it was nice to see them again here in Toxic. Their presence, as well as Cameron’s, brought hope, friendship and support to Adam when he most needed it. As painful as this story could be at times, these three are the bright spot for both the reader and Adam…even if Adam doesn’t want to give in to it at first.
If domestic violence and dubious consent are difficult topics for you, carefully consider before starting this book. Those who choose to read will be rewarded with a drama-filled story with a positive ending…though for me, I would have liked to see more of Adam and Cameron together as a couple. It didn’t feel like there was enough time to cement a relationship between them, so it almost felt like a happy-for-now ending and not a happily ever after, even with the epilogue.
Overall Toxic was a 4-star read for me. This story is definitely meant only for readers 18+ due to the difficult subject matter, adult language and M/M sexual content including rough handling and dubious consent.
A Note from Avy...
Toxic is the second novel in the Treacherous Chemistry series, following characters introduced in Volatile. However, it can be read as a stand-alone. It's a story about love, but also about the dangers of loving what you shouldn't.
I wrote this story as an attempt to understand why we sometimes fail to recognize what's bad for us, but most of all I wrote it for Adam, and all the Adams out there across the world. I wanted to give him strength, resilience and hope in a situation far too many has to navigate.
Toxic is by no means a light read, and it would be unfair of me to label it as such. I've been known to play with readers' emotions, and Toxic is no exception. And, although it is a story about love, some will likely say this novel contains elements of general fiction. However, as long as you know what you're up against, Toxic will hopefully give you something to remember and something to ponder.
You will get to meet Dante and Chris again, but also make a new acquaintance in Cameron. If nothing else, these three will undoubtedly make you smile when you most need it. I promise.
Toxic has been posted on Wattpad as a draft, which is the reason you see ratings before the release date. It collected over a million reads on the site before I took it down for publication, which gave me some confidence that Adam's story was worth telling despite the toll it took on me.
I hope you'll let sweet Adam tell you his story because it's an important one.
Author Bio
Raised in one of the cold corners of the world, Avylinn spends her days either wrapped up in a blanket or basking in the precious sunlight. When she can't choose herself, she's holed up in an office working with climate research that has little to do with the worlds and characters she creates in her vivid dreams.
Always the emotional one, she has found her outlet in writing, voicing thoughts, emotions and fears through her characters that feel very much alive to her. And, what began as a hobby soon took more and more time in her life until she realized that she had left her old life behind and entered a new one where her emotions turned into a super power-ready to launch at her poor readers.
She recharges with the help of coffee, cinnamon buns, popcorn and occasionally a healthier alternative.
