Disability

One car. Two strangers. Thirteen hundred miles. What could go wrong?

When Ash rolls into town with a backpack full of cash and a bullet wound, the last thing he’s looking for is a connection. All he needs is a ride south, fast.

Enter Sam: a young man struggling with his identity, freshly dumped by the girlfriend he drove up the coast to visit. He doesn’t know a thing about the gorgeous stranger begging him for a ride back to Miami, but when Ash offers to cover all expenses, it's hard to say no.

What starts as convenience turns into late-night confessions, shared hotel beds, and feelings neither of them are prepared to name. As they rack up the miles, casual recklessness turns into something intimate and real.

But Ash is lying—about who he is, what he’s done and why. And when his secrets catch up with them both, it’ll put their fragile new connection to the test.

WISH WE WERE HERE is a whirlwind strangers-to-lovers MM romance set against the grungy backdrop of the mid-90s. Featuring a bisexual awakening and a guaranteed HEA, it’s a standalone love story shaped by tender nostalgia.

 Charlie and Nick are at the same school, but they’ve never met … until one day when they’re made to sit together. They quickly become friends, and soon Charlie is falling hard for Nick, even though he doesn’t think he has a chance.

But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is more interested in Charlie than either of them realised.

By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper is about love, friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Book one:

Heartbroken art student Noel Underwood isn’t looking for anything serious when he hits the club looking for a distraction. But a reckless encounter with Luca Karvelas—an older tattoo artist with nowhere else to go—quickly turns into an arrangement neither of them can walk away from.

Fresh off a separation from his wife, Luca has spent his life burying parts of himself he never wanted to face. Getting involved with a man nearly a decade younger is a bad idea; moving in together is even worse. But the fierce, prickly boy he’s made his roommate makes him feel comfortable in his own skin for the first time in years. Noel has demons of his own. Beneath the sharp edges and a wildly self-destructive streak is a desperate and vulnerable need to be loved. With Luca, he feels whole in a way he never has before, and together, their chemistry is impossible to ignore. But when the past comes crashing back into their lives and old patterns resurface, Luca is forced to make a choice—one that could cost him the only person who’s ever really seen him.

SUCKER LOVE is a soft D/s, hurt/comfort MM romance centering BPD representation and brimming with angst, drama, and messy desire.

Book Two:

Months ago, Luca walked away from Noel. Now he’d do anything to get him back.

But making things right is impossible when the love of his life has blocked his number, moved apartments, and vanished from every corner of Luca’s life. Still, Luca can’t let go. He haunts the places they used to visit together, hoping for one more chance to face the boy he hurt so badly.

Noel isn’t doing well—but he’s trying. He’s going to therapy, keeping up with his new job, and learning how to survive on his own, no matter how badly it hurts. And the worst part? He’s still hopelessly in love with the man who crushed his heart.

When Noel agrees to take a heartbroken friend out for the night, the last thing he expects is for the evening to end in disaster. But at the club, Noel comes face-to-face not with Luca, but another ghost from his past.

And in a single moment, the fragile life he’s rebuilt begins to crack apart all over again.

SWALLOW is a heartfelt MM romance about fighting for happiness and finding solace in a second-chance. Featuring a very hard-won HEA, it is the second book in the Sugar Pill Duet and should be read after SUCKER LOVE.

Book Three: Wish we were here

One car. Two strangers. Thirteen hundred miles. What could go wrong? When Ash rolls into town with a backpack full of cash and a bullet wound, the last thing he’s looking for is a connection. All he needs is a ride south, fast. Enter Sam: a young man struggling with his identity, freshly dumped by the girlfriend he drove up the coast to visit. He doesn’t know a thing about the gorgeous stranger begging him for a ride back to Miami, but when Ash offers to cover all expenses, it's hard to say no. What starts as convenience turns into late-night confessions, shared hotel beds, and feelings neither of them are prepared to name. As they rack up the miles, casual recklessness turns into something intimate and real. But Ash is lying—about who he is, what he’s done and why. And when his secrets catch up with them both, it’ll put their fragile new connection to the test.

WISH WE WERE HERE is a whirlwind strangers-to-lovers MM romance set against the grungy backdrop of the mid-90s. Featuring a bisexual awakening and a guaranteed HEA, it’s a standalone love story shaped by tender nostalgia.

Book Four: To the end

True love is never transactional.

In the winter of 1994, twenty-nine-year-old Jamie Hollis is left reeling when he inherits a fortune in the wake of his estranged father's death. On the way home from the funeral, he spies a young hustler on a frozen street corner...and makes an impulsive decision.

Ben Greer is surviving one night at a time. At twenty-four, he’s bitter, burnt out, and barely scraping by on the streets of Providence. With no family to speak of and bearing the scars of liaisons gone wrong, he’s long since stopped believing in happy endings.

Their arrangement is supposed to be simple: Jamie wants exclusivity, and the money's too good for Ben to refuse. But as the weeks pass, what begins as transactional gives way to unexpected intimacy. Beyond Ben’s barbed defenses is someone Jamie is desperate to protect, and beneath Jamie’s isolation is the first person Ben’s trusted in years.

But when Jamie is dragged back into old family drama he once thought he escaped, Ben will have to decide what matters more to him: money...or love?

TO THE END is a class gap MM romance set against the nostalgic backdrop of the mid-90s. Serving as a prequel to WISH WE WERE HERE, TO THE END features a cast of familiar faces and a poignant HFN.

The ultimate in Risa Cruises' Love on Rewind series,, featuring two signed paperbacks, six Safe-for-work art prints and four stickers.

Book One: Wish we were here

One car. Two strangers. Thirteen hundred miles. What could go wrong? When Ash rolls into town with a backpack full of cash and a bullet wound, the last thing he’s looking for is a connection. All he needs is a ride south, fast. Enter Sam: a young man struggling with his identity, freshly dumped by the girlfriend he drove up the coast to visit. He doesn’t know a thing about the gorgeous stranger begging him for a ride back to Miami, but when Ash offers to cover all expenses, it's hard to say no. What starts as convenience turns into late-night confessions, shared hotel beds, and feelings neither of them are prepared to name. As they rack up the miles, casual recklessness turns into something intimate and real. But Ash is lying—about who he is, what he’s done and why. And when his secrets catch up with them both, it’ll put their fragile new connection to the test.

WISH WE WERE HERE is a whirlwind strangers-to-lovers MM romance set against the grungy backdrop of the mid-90s. Featuring a bisexual awakening and a guaranteed HEA, it’s a standalone love story shaped by tender nostalgia.

Book two: To the end

True love is never transactional.

In the winter of 1994, twenty-nine-year-old Jamie Hollis is left reeling when he inherits a fortune in the wake of his estranged father's death. On the way home from the funeral, he spies a young hustler on a frozen street corner...and makes an impulsive decision.

Ben Greer is surviving one night at a time. At twenty-four, he’s bitter, burnt out, and barely scraping by on the streets of Providence. With no family to speak of and bearing the scars of liaisons gone wrong, he’s long since stopped believing in happy endings.

Their arrangement is supposed to be simple: Jamie wants exclusivity, and the money's too good for Ben to refuse. But as the weeks pass, what begins as transactional gives way to unexpected intimacy. Beyond Ben’s barbed defenses is someone Jamie is desperate to protect, and beneath Jamie’s isolation is the first person Ben’s trusted in years.

But when Jamie is dragged back into old family drama he once thought he escaped, Ben will have to decide what matters more to him: money...or love?

TO THE END is a class gap MM romance set against the nostalgic backdrop of the mid-90s. Serving as a prequel to WISH WE WERE HERE, TO THE END features a cast of familiar faces and a poignant HFN.

Charlie didn’t think Nick could ever like him back, but now they’re officially boyfriends. Nick’s even found the courage to come out to his mum.

But coming out isn’t just something that happens once – there’s Nick’s older brother, and a school trip to Paris, not to mention all the other friends and family – and life can be hard, even with someone who loves you by your side. As their feelings get more serious, Charlie and Nick will need each other more than ever before.

Charlie didn’t think Nick could ever like him back, but now they’re officially boyfriends. Nick’s even found the courage to come out to his mum.

But coming out isn’t just something that happens once – there’s Nick’s older brother, and a school trip to Paris, not to mention all the other friends and family – and life can be hard, even with someone who loves you by your side. As their feelings get more serious, Charlie and Nick will need each other more than ever before.

Nick and Charlie are best friends. Nick knows Charlie’s gay, and Charlie is sure that Nick isn’t.

But love works in surprising ways, and Nick is discovering all kinds of things about his friends, his family … and himself.

By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper is about friendship, loyalty and mental illness. It encompasses all the small stories of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

He was my beginning. And my never-ending.

Ellis
There’s a lot I’ve never told my best friend. The fact that I love him. That I miss him every day he’s gone. That, sometimes, I ache for him with a ferocity that leaves me breathless.

Lucky Buchanan tore into my life as a boy, wild and daring, my opposite in every way. He drew me in, stole my heart without trying. He hears me, even though I rarely speak a word. But I always knew this place wouldn’t be enough for my free-spirited friend. I knew he wasn’t mine to keep.

So why, when I finally try to get over him, does he sweep back into town? Why is he upset? Why is there tension between us for the first time in years?

I never saw a future where Lucky could be mine. But now, unless I want to lose my friend, I might not have a choice but to tell the truth. My heart belongs to him. It has from the start.

If only I knew how to hold onto a creature that’s meant to fly.

To Catch a Firefly is a standalone, childhood friends-to-lovers romance told in dual POV. There’s epic levels of pining, a neurodivergent MC with selective mutism, two friends who always come back to one another, glass hearts and romantic declarations, and a HEA beneath the night sky.

He was my beginning. And my never-ending.

Ellis
There’s a lot I’ve never told my best friend. The fact that I love him. That I miss him every day he’s gone. That, sometimes, I ache for him with a ferocity that leaves me breathless.

Lucky Buchanan tore into my life as a boy, wild and daring, my opposite in every way. He drew me in, stole my heart without trying. He hears me, even though I rarely speak a word. But I always knew this place wouldn’t be enough for my free-spirited friend. I knew he wasn’t mine to keep.

So why, when I finally try to get over him, does he sweep back into town? Why is he upset? Why is there tension between us for the first time in years?

I never saw a future where Lucky could be mine. But now, unless I want to lose my friend, I might not have a choice but to tell the truth. My heart belongs to him. It has from the start.

If only I knew how to hold onto a creature that’s meant to fly.

To Catch a Firefly is a standalone, childhood friends-to-lovers romance told in dual POV. There’s epic levels of pining, a neurodivergent MC with selective mutism, two friends who always come back to one another, glass hearts and romantic declarations, and a HEA beneath the night sky.

 You can’t fly without falling, so close your eyes and let go.

People ask me if I’m human. If I have feelings. If I’ve ever loved anyone. I’m the lawyer who has never lost a case because I have nothing else to live for.
Until Jonah.
He’s my complete opposite: a reckless boy twelve years younger than me, made of sunshine and wicked smiles, pure and breathtaking.
It all starts with a secret. He wants to find out if he’s bi, and he begs me to teach him because we’ll never see each other again.
Until he shows up on my doorstep with nowhere else to go. I can’t draw lines faster than we blur them. He’s the unstoppable force; I’m the immovable object. When we collide, things get filthy. Complicated. More beautiful than I ever could have imagined.
He’s the only person ever to learn the truth: I’ve always been human. I’ve always had feelings. I’ve been so, so afraid to lose.
Because the moment we find enough trust to jump is the moment we realize our wings might be too broken to fly.

The books in this Water, Air, Earth, Fire Series take place in the same universe and have recurring characters, but each book is a standalone that can be read separately or in any order!