Short fiction that is long on romance, Best Gay Romance 2011 encompasses the dizzying emotions of the human heart in love - delight, longing, relief, despair, anger, and deepest desire. From first times to brief encounters, to rediscovered missed connections and longtime companions, editor Richard Labonté has curated a classic on the subject of love between men. Each story unfolds the "possibility of happy-ever-after-the warm, beating heart of romantic desire." Lightning strikes more than once during a fateful tryst in Martin Delacroix's "First Roach Pond." Edward Moreno's "You're a Dog" reminds us that love can be flexible, while Eric Nguyen recalls first kisses and the stirrings of puppy love - and lust - in "How Boys Flirt With Other Boys."

Stories by Jameson Currier, Derrick Della Giorgia, David Holly, Anthony McDonald, Tyler Keevil, Jay Mandal, David May, Shanna Germain, Martin Delacroix, Simon Sheppard, Tom Mendicino, Edward Moreno, Eric Nguyen