Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Every Shade: A Collection of Shorts

Rate this book
DIVE INTO THESE FIVE MM ROMANCE SHORTS BY BESTSELLING AUTHOR NORA PHOENIX THAT OFFER A SEXY ESCAPE FROM REALITY WITH UNIQUE CHARACTERS, PLENTY OF HEAT, AN AMAZING STORY, AND ALL THE FEELS.

Unstuck: When Samuel discovers his boyfriend has cheated on him, his Valentine’s Day seems ruined. Until he gets stuck in an elevator with a sexy stranger… Could their instant connection be the start of something more? (33k words, contains role play)

Assembly Required: AJ helps his adorably clumsy new neighbor build his IKEA furniture, but when he discovers the man needs instructions in more than just furniture building, will AJ offer his services? (12k words. Previously released as Helping Hand in Heart2Heart)

Hot for His Assistant: Jace has the best job in the world as a virtual PA to sexy romance author, Matthew. When Matthew falls ill, Jace rushes over to take care of him. But is Matthew hot from fever…or hot for his assistant? (20k words, contains role play)

Layover: While traveling in Germany, two men get stuck in Munich on an unexpected layover. They spend a glorious night together, but is what they have enough to last when they’re so different? (17k words)

Alexander and Langley: Langley has had a crush on Alexander, his former PE teacher, for years. When Alexander runs into financial trouble, Langley offers help. Can he convince Alexander that what he feels for him is real and that the age gap between them doesn’t matter? (13k words, previously unpublished)

297 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 23, 2021

22 people are currently reading
73 people want to read

About the author

Nora Phoenix

133 books2,236 followers
Would you like the long or the short version of my bio?

The short? You got it.

I write steamy gay romance books and I love it. I also love reading books. Books are everything.

How was that?

A little more detail? Gotcha.

I started writing my first stories when I was a teen…on a freaking typewriter. I still have these, and they’re adorably romantic. And bad, haha. Fear of failing kept me from following my dream to become a romance author, so you can imagine how proud and ecstatic I am that I finally overcame my fears and self doubt and did it. I adore my genre because I love writing and reading about flawed, strong men who are just a tad broken..but find their happy ever after anyway.

My favorite books to read are pretty much all MM/gay romances as long as it has a happy end. Kink is a plus… Aside from that, I also read a lot of nonfiction and not just books on writing. Popular psychology is a favorite topic of mine and so are self help and sociology.

Hobbies? Ain’t nobody got time for that. Just kidding. I love traveling, spending time near the ocean, and hiking. But I love books more.

Come hang out with me in my Facebook Group Nora’s Nook where I share previews, sneak peeks, freebies, fun stuff, and much more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/noras...

Wanna get first dibs on freebies, updates, sales, and more? Sign up for my newsletter (no spamming your inbox full…promise!) here: http://www.noraphoenix.com/newsletter/

You can also stalk me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/NoraFromBHR
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nora.phoenix/
On Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/nora-...

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
33 (33%)
4 stars
50 (51%)
3 stars
15 (15%)
2 stars
0 (0%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
Profile Image for Colleen (colleenreads40).
434 reviews18 followers
March 2, 2025
Every Shade: A Collection of Shorts is a standalone collection of short MM stories from author Nora Phoenix. It features the following stories:

🌈 Unstuck
🌈 Assembly Required
🌈 Hot for His Assistant
🌈 Layover
🌈 Alexander and Langley

All stories have a guaranteed happily ever after!

With this collection of five short stories, Nora promises a "sexy escape from reality with unique characters, plenty of heat, an amazing story, and all the feels." Well, she definitely delivered! I'm glad I discovered this collection of shorts on her website. Each story was a relatively easy read with plenty of romance and spice, with a diverse cast of characters that defy expectations.

If I had to pick my favourites in this collection, I think it would be Hot for His Assistant and Layover, although I did enjoy all five stories.

Hot for His Assistant features Jace, a virtual PA to romance author Matthew. Although the two have never met in person (or even video chat) before, they've inadvertently become best friends. After Matthew falls ill and Jace rushes to take care of him, I loved the dynamic that grew between them. Add in an element of "snowed in" and a penchant for role play, and you've got one steamy story with an adorable happy ever after.

Layover features Micah, a business traveler who thrives on his routine life, and Forest, an outdoors fanatic. They meet after their flight from Munich to New York City is delayed and they find themselves with a day to kill. Forest takes Micah under his wing and shows him all the amazing things Munich has to offer, and after an explosive end to their evening, we see them figure out how life will work when they go back to their respective sides of the country. I loved how much heart this story had (it also made me want to book a flight to Germany, ASAP) and how the characters helped each other be the best versions of themselves. As with the other stories, the spice was great and it fit the characters well.

I also enjoyed Unstuck, Assembly Required, and Alexander and Langley (which feature two characters that were briefly mentioned in Coming Out on Top. They all had cute stories with satisfying conclusions, and great spice and swoon. This is such a fun collection and would be perfect if you're looking for some entertaining short stories to round out your TBR.
Profile Image for Abigail Beckwith.
1,717 reviews
June 9, 2024
old post reposted


Trying to read a few backlogged books and cross authors off my to-binge list... Here's Nora Phoenix's "Every Shade." It's a collection of short stories, some previously published and some not.
["Unstuck: When Samuel discovers his boyfriend has cheated on him, his Valentine’s Day seems ruined. Until he gets stuck in an elevator with a sexy stranger… Could their instant connection be the start of something more?

Assembly Required: AJ helps his adorably clumsy new neighbor build his IKEA furniture, but when he discovers the man needs instructions in more than just furniture building, will AJ offer his services? (previously released as Helping Hand in Heart2Heart)

Hot for His Assistant: Jace has the best job in the world as a virtual PA to sexy romance author, Matthew. When Matthew falls ill, Jace rushes over to take care of him. But is Matthew hot from fever…or hot for his assistant?

Layover: While traveling in Germany, two men get stuck in Munich on an unexpected layover. They spend a glorious night together, but is what they have enough to last when they’re so different?

Alexander and Langley: Langley has had a crush on Alexander, his former PE teacher, for years. When Alexander runs into financial trouble, Langley offers help. Can he convince Alexander that what he feels for him is real and that the age gap between them doesn’t matter? (previously unpublished)"]



My favorite: “Layover” or “Alexander and Langley”

My least favorite (but not hated): "Unstuck" (mostly because Samuel's ex is a fucking dickbag who deserves sooooo much worse than what he got).

Favorite couple: Jace and Matthew



#everyshade #collectionofshorts #everyshadecollectionofshorts #unstuck #assemblyrequired #hotforhisassistant #layover #alexanderandlangley #noraphoenix #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks
Profile Image for SJ.
2,021 reviews33 followers
December 26, 2021
I’ve rated each of these stories individually, having read them previously. The author saved the best for last, a new story. I loved ‘Waiting For Alexander’! A solid five star read. Langley was super hot with his “I’ve come back for you” to Alexander. Swoon! I liked when Alexander admitted that he wanted Langley, too. The Mac cameo was great and the Quentin popups in the story, too. I like this author’s clear writing and hot sex scenes.
1,133 reviews
August 25, 2021
Excellent!

Usually with collections there are stand out winners and the rest of the stories seem like fillers. That is very much not the case with this collection as every story is equally as good as the one before or after it. I couldn’t even say which one I liked the best as I enjoyed each one equally although for different reasons.
Profile Image for Kassandra  Knight.
1,542 reviews4 followers
September 22, 2023
I dove in head first and read the last story first because I had just finished a related story of Nora’s and wanted Alex and Langley’s story asap.

I absofreakinglutely loved it as well as all of the others and would be hard pressed to tell you my favourite.

Highly recommend.
Profile Image for Sarah Patterson.
87 reviews
March 6, 2025
Came for Alexander and Langley's story after reading Coming Out on Top. So glad I decided to read the rest. It was just the right palette cleanser...overflowing with cute stories, HEAs and little to no angst.
1,429 reviews3 followers
July 5, 2021
Very Yummy!

This collection, whets your appetite for all of Nora's stories. I'm going back to reread all in my collection plus the White House stories which I haven't read as yet.
Profile Image for Barbie✨.
697 reviews1 follower
August 22, 2021
Un-Stuck - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Assembly Required - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hot for His Assistant - ⭐⭐⭐
Layover - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Waiting for Alexander - ⭐⭐⭐⭐
364 reviews
October 14, 2021
I read all except Assembly Required and Hot for His Assistant. Favorite is Alexander and Langley, could have read it if it was full length novel.
Profile Image for Marie.
871 reviews8 followers
January 2, 2023
Reread of this collection.
Unstuck - a sweet turn around for Samuel after a crappy situation with his ex. Tris is a big ole teddy bear. Smoking hot tale.

Assembly Required - sweet and fun short. Especially amusing to those of us who have battled IKEA furniture before!

Hot For His Assistant - I really enjoyed this story. Matthew and Jace are good together. There is chemistry, caring plot and heat. I like the author boss/employee PA

This is a really cozy collection of stories. I especially like the first three that had heat, heart and HEA that I enjoy in a story.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.