Derek T. Cole

The Harden City Chronicles is a series of novels, novellas, and short stories detailing the lives and adventures of the citizens of Harden City. They are all gay, romantic, and erotic in nature.

The first part of the series is a novella called “The Rescue”. It tells the story of Garth, a recently divorced man with a tough job: hunting the extremely nasty elements of Harden City. Trying to rescue an informant from a brutal death, he winds up with the rescued man in his home, and a relationship between the two develops.

It’s going to be tough going. Garth is a middle class worker in Harden City, but Dean, the one he rescues, is a resident of The Penn, the poor part of town. Harden City’s economic and social structure isn’t kind to the poor, relegating them to the slums of the city and making it almost impossible for them to get out. Dean is a fish out of water, seeing parts of the city that he’d never be able to see on his own. He’s due to go back to The Penn unless Garth finds a way to keep him out.

Garth begins to fall for Dean, but he knows it’s a doomed relationship. If it became known that he was gay, Garth would lose his job and all of his assets – making him as poor as Dean. He wants Dean badly, but Garth knows it will put his job and life at risk, including his ability to see his young daughter.

“The Rescue” is a gay romance with erotica. Fictional Harden City has urban fantasy and paranormal elements, but the relationship between Garth and Dean feels like the real world.

The question is: will they be able to work through the challenges brought on by their budding relationship?