Naughty or Nice

Still grieving after losing his lover, Randy Mallory hopes to find comfort in achieving their dream of starting a family. It's a tough proposition under the best of circumstances, but even more so since he's adopting a child from a foreign country as a single gay parent. Randy is sure that little Bahdri will bring joy to his life, but he hadn't bargained on meeting the loving and lovely Ben Ballard at the orphanage in India. Why did the first man to spark his interest in all the months since Jason's death have to live on the opposite side of the earth?

In a perfect moment of cold November sunshine, pudgy accountant Kit Allen realizes Jesse, his new office assistant, is everything he's ever dreamed about in a man. Feeling supremely unworthy and desperate to get a life-even an imaginary one-Kit embarks on a self-improvement campaign featuring DVD fitness guru, Danny Fit. In the meantime, Jesse has begun a subtle campaign of his own, one designed to bring Kit out of his DVD dream world and into Jesse's arms. Jesse isn't perfect-he's no Danny Fit-but he hopes that the kind, funny man who has been looking at him so soulfully since his first day at work has what it takes to be everything Jesse has always wanted.

Kyle's mother thinks he's crazy. He's just moved from Florida to Anchorage, Alaska for an elementary school teaching job. In December. She may not be far off base. Spooked by a "monster" outside his new house, Kyle calls for the police, only to discover that his attacker is a moose named Mariah. More visits from the moose yield more visits from the same sexy policeman, and the two men explore ways to stay warm in the frozen North.

Mick Argall is making ends meet as a shop-window model by keeping quiet, standing in the background, and going unnoticed. He's played that role for twenty-two years in his personal life as well, watching the world pass him by, remaining alone... until this holiday season, when a certain young man stops to take a good, close look, and makes Mick break out of his mold.

When his young niece Bailey moves in, Cory knows he needs to end his casual fling with Ken. Bailey's had enough upheaval in her short life, and Cory doesn't want her to get attached to a "friend" who won't be sticking around. Even so, Cory finds himself continuing to let Ken into his life, but a one-night-stand gone serial isn't what Cory wants, and so he makes The List: his requirements for the perfect partner. Helping out during a difficult time, Ken finds himself being pulled into the family unit despite Cory's previous emotional distance. He hopes he's finally breaking through, on the verge of convincing Cory to make their relationship more than a casual one. Then, while helping Bailey write to Santa, he finds Cory's list and takes it as his cue to bow out-just when Cory needs him the most.