Jeff Erno

Jeff Erno is an author of gay fiction, mm romance, and young adult novels.

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Dumb Jock

Blurb: He comes of age and falls in love with another guy. Jeff Irwin is a fourteen-year-old boy who grew up in a small Northern Michigan town. Jeff is short for his age, timid and studious, never yet having dared to take any chances for fear of ultimate rejection or failure. He is a bit of a social outcast and lives quietly in the shadows of the popular kids at his school. One lucky day, he is afforded the rare opportunity to assist the town's high school football hero Brett Willson in their English class. Having failed twice in English grammar, Brett needs Jeff's help to pass this subject in order to retain his quarterback position in the school's varsity. As Jeff embarks upon the challenge of educating the world's dumbest jock, a romantic relationship between the two ensues that is far more challenging than any tutoring session. Their budding friendship helps bring Jeff out of his shell and reveals a much deeper side of the dumb jock. Tragedies befall the ill-suited young couple, and the losses they endure are unthinkable. Will they be true to the dictates their hearts, or will they choose to return to the previously held conformity of their comfortable stereotypes? A fictional youth tale penned by Jeff Erno, Dumb Jock is a wonderful saga that demonstrates a blossoming same-sex love, admiration, and genuine friendship.

Another Dumb Jock

In Dumb Jock, Jeff and Brett fall in love, but their relationship is not without challenges. Brett’s a football star, and Jeff is the classic nerd. Their coming of age and coming out story is set in the 1980s, and they face many obstacles. Yet their love for each other is strong, and they finally get their happy ending.

Now, almost three decades later, their children are teenagers. Adam, their fifteen year old son, is the star pitcher of his high school baseball team. He has grown up with two dads, in a loving, non-judgmental environment. Yet Adam has challenges of his own. He’s failing two of his classes at school, and he’s been suspended for fighting. He resents being labeled and insists that just because he has two dads, it doesn’t mean that he is himself gay.

When he is forced to accept help from another student in his algebra class, Adam starts to have feelings that cause him to question his very identity. He’s got to decide whether to follow his heart or to maintain the image he’s worked so hard to portray. Will he have the courage to take a stand for what he knows is right, or will he end up being just another dumb jock?

The Landlord

Blurb: The Landlord is a story about young Mark Matheson, a recent college graduate who lands a job in his college town but is dismayed by the fact that he will soon be moving from the dorms and have no place to live. He finds an apartment that is located and priced perfectly, but the only problem is that if he rents it, his landlord will be the very guy for whom he's secretly harbored a crush for months. Aaron seems to be all that Mark is not. He's tall and handsome, very confident and well-spoken. How will Mark ever be able to stand living so close to this guy without somehow betraying his own secret? Perhaps he'll learn there is more than one means of paying the rent.

Puppy Love

Blurb: Matt is everything that Petey is not. He is self-confident and brave. Matt is tall and masculine and athletic. He is a natural-born leader. Puppy Love is their love story, their romance. It is both a coming-of-age and coming-out story, but sexual orientation is not the primary focus. Petey struggles with his identity both as a homosexual and as a submissive. What do you do when you love someone who is truly superior to yourself in every meaningful way? How do you feel, and what if these feelings are not what everyone tells you you're supposed to feel? We are taught that every individual is equal, but what if you know, through experience, that this is not the case? What if, in a society in which everyone is supposed to be a leader, you discover that your passion, your destiny, is to submit? In Puppy Love, Petey Drinkell discovers the true nature of power, its role in sexual relationships, and his own role in the power structure. Puppy Love is perhaps the world's first gay BDSM coming-of-age novel. This erotic epic is more than classic erotica; it also challenges the fundamental assumptions we make about human relationships and democracy.

Puppy Love 2: Building a Family

Blurb: Matt and Petey are the central characters in Puppy Love. They are a representation of an ideal which few (if any) other BDSM romances dare to present. They are a couple who identify as Dom and sub, not merely as a form of sexual roleplay, but as an innate identity. By nature Matt is dominant. He is decisive and self-confident, and he's a born leader. Petey, contrarily, is shy and timid. He is submissive by nature and craves the guidance, affection, and control of a man he regards to be of superior status to himself.  Those who have experienced and understood the theme of this story recognize that the Dom/sub relationship presented is not one in which abuse or bullying is tolerated or glorified. The story is about the evolution of two very unique characters, one Master and one sub. Based upon outward appearances, one would regard the couple as being rather mainstream. They are not clad in leather. They have no piercings or outlandish tattoos. They do not engage in torturous or sadistic sex play which involves beatings or wild sexual fetishes. Matt and Petey are a young gay couple in love. They're a Dom/sub couple. They're an Owner and his pup.

Puppy Love 3: Reawakening

Puppy Love is the story of Matt and Petey. Not only do they identify as a Dominant-submissive gay couple, but they also defy many of the stereotypes of this type of relationship. They rarely dress in leather; they don't hang out at sex clubs, and they have little interest in many of the heavy BDSM sexual practices. There is no denying, however, that Matt is the Master and Petey is his pup. Reawakening, book three of the Puppy Love Trilogy, is the much-awaited conclusion to Matt and Petey's story. After the tragedies of book two, more agony and ecstasy await Matt and Petey-a shooting, an unexpected pregnancy, a big gay wedding, and tons of passionate, kinky sex scenes. Will they find their happily-ever-after ending together, or will Petey's reawakened independence lead him down another path entirely?

Trust Me

Shawn Graham and Bobby Wilder couldn't be more different. Shawn is a devout Christian fundamentalist from northern Michigan; Bobby is a street-smart latchkey kid from southern Ohio. From an early age, they are both confused and troubled by their attraction to the same sex. Shawn believes that homosexuality is sinful, and a traumatic incident of childhood sexual abuse adds to his guilt and shame. Bobby has an image to maintain and flatly denies the possibility that his same-sex attractions even exist. He's just too cool to be gay. When they finally connect, their preconceptions are suddenly dwarfed by what they feel for each other. They become inseparable and fall deeply in love; however, love doesn't make life easy. Plans are in motion that will surely devastate the young couple. Painful experiences of the past overshadow happy memories, and heartbreaking obstacles loom over the possibility of a future. If Shawn and Bobby want to stay together, they will have to fight with everything they have.

Bullied

Every day, all over the country, teenagers struggle with the realities of bullying. Tormented, ridiculed, and beaten—simply for being who they are—these teens face alienation, humiliation, and even the explicit assertion that they have somehow brought this upon themselves, that they should just blend in. Bullied is a series of short stories exploring the world of these teens from several different viewpoints: the victim, the bully, the gay bystander, the straight friend, the concerned parent.

Closeted Bryan wonders why Christian Michaelson doesn't just try to blend in if he hates being bullied so much. Star athlete David isn't a homophobe—after all, he's not afraid of anything. Jonathan, a Christian fundamentalist, must weigh the Bible against peer pressure and what he knows is right when he discovers his childhood friend is gay. Bully victim Chase Devereaux finds an unexpected ally in a brave fellow student. A single mom struggles to accept the reality that her only son is gay. Two tough gay teens are forced to confront their own inner demons when tragedy befalls a classmate they failed to help. And overweight Kirby finds the strength of character to make a friend, which leads to a lifestyle change and a chance at love. Each character grows as an individual as he or she comes to terms with what it means to be a gay teenager in America.

Second Chances

Harold Wainwright is dying. At seventy-nine, stricken with malignant cancer, the multi-billionaire insurance mogul realizes he has much to regret. In his youth he rejected his only true love and instead chose to advance his career and build his financial empire. Single-mindedly he focused upon achieving his own goals, looking out for number one, and acquiring a monetary fortune. Now he is alone, and all he has is his money…and his life is over. Doctor Timothy Drayton has devoted his entire career to developing the technology to prolong human life. His entire focus has been upon creating a computer chip which can be implanted into the human brain, allowing human consciousness to be transferred from one human subject into the mind of another. Given optimum circumstances, he is confident that he can now preserve the consciousness of a dying patient into the mind of a donor subject with a surgically electronic implant. Jesse Warren is eighteen years old, about to graduate from high school. He’s a track star, model student, and the typical all-American kid. One day while on his way to track practice, tragedy strikes, and Jesse is in a terrible accident, rendered comatose. When his family learns the horrifying news, they believe they’ve lost their son forever. Jesse Warren is pronounced “brain dead”. When neurosurgeon and world-renowned brain specialist Dr. Timothy Drayton arrives, telling the Warren family that he has an advanced form of experimental treatment which can possibly save young Jesse and restore his consciousness, the Warrens are convinced that God has sent them a miracle. They are overjoyed the next morning when their son undergoes surgery and awakens as a new man. His memory loss, they are convinced, is amnesia due to his accident. Jesse lives, and is given a second chance. Will his new life prove to be the impetus for significant change, or will the old Harold Wainwright emerge to make the same mistakes a second time around? Most of us are given but one chance to make the right choices, but imagine if… there were such things as Second Chances.

The Men's Room Series

Book One: Twinsational

Tommy Cooper has just turned 21 and is getting his first exposure to the gay club scene when he meets Darren Maguire, a go-go dancer. Not only is Darren about the hottest guy that Tommy has ever seen, but he also has an identical twin brother named Michael who is also a dancer. Things quickly heat up for Tommy and Darren, but Michael doesn’t exactly approve. Michael is more serious and wishes his brother Darren would focus more on his education. When Michael meets the man of his dreams, however, he begins to understand the power of romance. Each of the twins become embroiled in relationships which are sure to affect their future, but in the party environment of a dance club, can any such relationship last? And what of the parade of hot guys that constantly come in and out of their lives? Only time will tell if Tommy has actually met the man of his dreams or if he’s simply allowed himself to be swept up by a passing sensation.