Heart2Heart: A Charity Anthology, Volume 3
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date (Print & Ebook): October 1 – December 30, 2019 only. This collection will be available for only 90 days before it’s gone forever.
Length (Print & Ebook): 200k words, 818 pages (each story is approximately 12k words)
Subgenre: Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
Once upon a time, a group of authors wondered… What if the Heart2Heart app — the dating app with a glitch that matched up the oddest, most perfect couples, and sponsored the charity date raffles that helped dozens of people find love — offered a classifieds section, too?
Need a handyman who knows how to wear a tool belt? Have a closet of drag costumes that needs a new home? How about finally tracking down that guy who made the perfect drink, or who’s just the right height to reach the top shelf?
Join some of your favorite authors of gay romance as they bring you sixteen brand-new stories inspired by reader suggestions!
Once again, all proceeds from this collection will go to the authors’ favorite LGBTQ charities, to ensure that love in all its forms will be celebrated and protected every single day of the year!
Buy Link:
Charity information:
With this third volume we are proud to be donating a portion of our proceeds to each of the following charities:
🏳️🌈 LGBT Youth Line: a Queer, Trans, Two-Spirit* youth-led organization that affirms and supports the experiences of youth (29 and under) across Ontario. We do this by:
-Providing anonymous peer support and referrals;
-Training youth to provide support to other youth; and
-Providing resources so youth can make informed decisions.
🏳️🌈 Kind Space: committed to providing accessible resources, events, social, and educational programming to celebrate and support people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions.
🏳️🌈 The Canadian Centre for Gender & Sexual Diversity: aspiring to support and transform Canadian and indigenous communities from coast to coast to coast in a shared vision of a discrimination-free gender and sexually diverse world.
More info: The first 2 volumes of Heart2Heart made a combined total of more than $50k USD. The net proceeds were donated to six incredible charities, including One-n-Ten, Ali Forney Center, Trevor Project, Rainbow Railroad, Trans LifeLine, and the Bisexual Resource Center. These volumes are no longer available, but thankfully the passion for the project hasn’t faded. Every step of the process has been donated:
- Cover design, logo, and promotional graphics by AngstyG
- Beta reading, editing, proofreading by the team at LesCourt Author Services, as well as Allison Roy
- Promotional posting by LesCourt Author Services and A Novel Take PR
- And of course, the authors’ time and efforts
Piper Scott writing as Emma Alcott is thrilled to offer an exclusive look at her Heart2Heart charity anthology contribution,”The Dream Machine”.
A wall of muscle walked through the door of the Jitterbug Café. Well, not a literal wall, of course, but there might have been a little sideways action involved in fitting two hundred and twenty pounds of rippling, six-foot-plus brawn through the vintage wooden doorframe. The young man—he couldn’t have been much older than twenty—turned around and closed the door delicately once he was all the way inside, going as far as to twist the doorknob so the bolt didn’t scrape against the strike plate. It was almost as if he had a history of knocking doors off their hinges… or demolishing entire sections of wall.
When the door was safely closed, He-Man’s shoulders sagged. Was that a sigh? Darwin squinted. It was hard to tell. Whatever it was, it didn’t let up when He-Man adjusted his posture and turned to face the café at large. If anything, he shrank into himself further.
Darwin gawked. It was hard not to.
What the hell were they putting in the water these days?
He-Man glanced first at the front counter, then surveyed the cute, mismatched wooden tables in the sitting area. When his gaze landed on Darwin, recognition flashed in his eyes. He cut around one of the tables, bumped into an empty chair—which he apologized to—on the way, and hovered several inches short of Darwin’s caramel macchiato. “Um, hi.”
Darwin blinked. He-Man looked like the kind of guy Darwin had tried to avoid in high school—the kind who’d grunt-snort while dipping him headfirst into the toilet for a rousing morning swirly—but lacked the confidence and bravado. The cocky mischief that should have burned in his dark eyes was absent, overshadowed by uncertainty. Worry thinned his lips and creased his brow. Darwin couldn’t figure out why. With his prominent, triangular jawline, handsomely broad shoulders, and male model good looks, He-Man could have ruled the roost that was small-town Hartfield, North Dakota. It defied logic that he’d rather hide under the hen house than preen atop its roof.
“Um.” Darwin bit his lip. He glanced at the other tables in the café, which were empty, then looked at He-Man and frowned. Darwin’s last day of high school had been a good fifteen years ago, but the self-preservation techniques he’d developed during that time kicked back into gear like he’d last used them yesterday. “Is this your table? I’ll move.”
“No!” He-Man held out a hand so suddenly that Darwin flinched. “I mean, please don’t move. You’re Darwin, right? The guy with the dream machine? I’m Tucker. I’m here to see you.”
The words were all right, but the mouth that spoke them was wrong. Taken aback, Darwin dared study Tucker’s face, searching to make sense of what he’d just said. The only place Darwin had made a listing for his invention was the Heart2Heart buy and sell page. After several less-than-desirable encounters from Craigslist, it had felt like the safest move. But the Heart2Heart site was targeted toward the LGBT community, and that meant that Tucker…
Heat flooded Darwin’s cheeks.
Tucker had found Darwin’s listing and replied.
“Um, you know, Tucker?” Tucker mumbled when nothing was said. He swallowed nervously and scratched the back of his neck. “The guy who sent you that text stupidly late a few nights ago? You are Darwin, right? I didn’t… um… I didn’t get the wrong café?”
“No. I mean, yes. I mean—” Darwin pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut, taking a second to pull himself together. Now was not the time to spaz out over meeting an unreasonably attractive man. He was a man of learning and science. Biceps would not defeat him.
Not psychologically, at least.
Learn more about participating authors:
Annabeth Albert
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100003042667147 | IG: instagram.com/annabeth_albert
May Archer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100011482840814 | IG: instagram.com/mayarcherauthor
Mary Calmes
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100000204760628 | IG: instagram.com/marysninja
Charlie Cochet
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100003164052695 | IG: instagram.com/charliecochet
Eden Finley
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100010700178264 | IG: instagram.com/finley.eden
Susan Hawke
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100013117063921 | IG: instagram.com/authorsusanhawke
Sloane Kennedy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100009132831061 | IG: instagram.com/sloanekennedyauthor
Lucy Lennox
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100014231406514 | IG: instagram.com/LucyLennoxMM
Lily Morton
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100008647656545 | IG: instagram.com/lilymortonauthor
K.M. Neuhold
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100000729553908 | IG: instagram.com/kmneuhold
Nora Phoenix
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100021169758909 | IG: instagram.com/nora.phoenix
Layla Reyne
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100009180017215 | IG: instagram.com/laylareyne
Piper Scott (writing as Emma Alcott)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100015071117600 | IG: instagram.com/piperscott.mm
Damon Suede
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100003098081193
Hailey Turner
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100014824811406 | IG: instagram.com/haileyturnerwrites
Aimee Nicole Walker
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/100007690451642 | IG: instagram.com/aimeenicolewalker
