Stag: A Story (4 page)

Vince Dandro might be going through the
quietest quarter-life crisis of all time. He lives alone, works in
a comic book shop, and has a crush on his coworker he can’t seem to
act on. Like an old comic book, his life’s colors have started to
fade. Everything brightens when Vince’s long-lost friend Griff
appears on his doorstep in the middle of a blizzard. They were
roommates in college, so close back then that Griff’s girlfriend
called them “lifebuddies”—but Vince’s love for Griff had ended the
friendship, he thought, forever. They haven’t spoken in years. Why
has Griff shown up again? And, more importantly, can Vince handle
his return?

Vince and Griff are two twentysomethings
struggling to find their places in the world and in each other’s
lives. This is a story of friendship and love, both unrequited and
requited, and of learning how to fly through the post-college void,
which just might hold more than a cranberry hush.

ALSO BY BEN MONOPOLI

Homo Action Love Story! A tall tale

Boots McHenry and his boyfriend Ryan are
young superstars in the North American Paintball League, a
high-stakes sport where losers face exile—five full years of it, on
an island so secret no one can be sure it even exists. After Ryan
has a tragic collision with an opposing team’s paintball, the rules
of the game force the boyfriends apart.

Boots is shattered without Ryan, so when his
best friend Clemente Santiago suggests a daring, high-seas mission
to find the island and reunite the pair, Boots jumps at the chance.
They assemble a crack team to join them, including fashion model
and mixed-martial-arts champ Colby Kroft, hunky-but-shy sea-captain
Marcus Tumble, and Piper Pernfors, the ex who’s aching to make
Boots forget Ryan ever existed.

Homo Action Love Story!
is a
lighthearted, sexy adventure—a perfect storm of beautiful
fishermen, murderous pirates, blossoming romances, and secrets that
call almost everyone’s motives into question. Land, ho! This
page-turner is sure to float your boat.