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Stories

      River Kai is a thriller webcomic author turned sweet-but-spicy romance author. As a bisexual and transgender creator with disabilities, he specializes in Romance, LGBTQ+, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy fiction with mental health and disability representation, creating stories for readers like him to see they’re not alone.

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       Below is a list of (almost) every story River Kai has worked on.

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SOUL SURVIVORS

Novel - PRE-ORDER NOW

Mortal danger crossed with intimate, tender romance, Soul Survivors is Book 1 of a psychological thriller series following two survivors' journeys to escape a paramilitary nightmare.

    Secret lovers Emmalee and Niko dream of a quiet life, but they’re born into a paramilitary cult—a violent patriarchy that breeds children as weapons-for-hire—and they hate it. If they dissent, they die, and their parents are brainwashed leadership.
    Expectations are high for Niko, the executioner’s son, and his dissociative PTSD sells his emotionless killer image. But Emmalee’s empathic sixth sense knows Niko’s truth; he’s actually a crybaby who hates violence. Similarly, the cult deems Emmalee useless due to her chronic illness, but Niko knows she’s the lion-hearted leader the world needs.
    To prove her worth to the ableist world, Emmalee sabotages a cult superior’s deadly drug trial. Except Emmalee doesn’t know Niko’s darkest secret; the cult superior is also Niko’s sexual abuser.
    When Niko’s abuser threatens not only them, but the entire nation with a dimension-altering experiment, Emmalee and Niko have to end the abuse cycle that imprisons the US without losing their lives—or each other.


PRE-ORDER NOW

DEBUTS OCTOBER 15TH, 2024

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BOOK 1 IS OUT NOW

MY SHY ALPHA

Novel Series - BOOK 1 PUBLISHED

     With 10 enchanting illustrations, My Shy Alpha is the first book in an empowering, steamy fantasy series that leaves readers swooning for a shy Alpha Lycan while rooting for an abuse survivor as she rediscovers what it means to be loved.
 

     Aliya Matsuoka meets “him” in her dreams - a regal yet unexpectedly shy man. But strangest of all, he always meets her in the forest, where their instant bond escalates into a sensual night beneath the stars.
     In waking reality, a monstrous ex blurred Aliya’s judgment on whom to trust. She won’t even kiss most dates, let alone “get down and dirty in the leaves” with a gorgeous stranger.
     When Aliya follows an uncontrollable urge to retrace her dream’s steps, reality surpasses her wildest imagination; she’s living amongst Lycans, shapeshifters who can morph into wolves at will.
     Outspoken for his “untraditional values” that Lycan sexes should have equal rights, shy Alpha Noah Greenfield faces constant pushback from other Alphas who thrive on dominance. Aliya, however, finds his social defiance alluring. As Aliya and Noah’s fated love transcends all bonds, Aliya unleashes her desires.
     But diving into this paranormal fairytale isn’t enough to erase Aliya’s trauma; there’s always a chance another monster could follow her home.

 

     Equal parts heartfelt and steamy, the My Shy Alpha series follows an epic love story for both seasoned werewolf lovers and new readers dipping their paws into the shifter universe.

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FREEING MY ALPHA

Book 2 in the My Shy Alpha Series 
PUBLISHED

     Aliya craves every good, bad, and uncertain task that comes with becoming Noah’s Luna - and hopefully, the mother of his children. But danger sprouts from every corner, and unresolved trauma derails Aliya and Noah’s plans. Healing can’t be forced, no matter how hard they love each other through it.

     Desperate to regain her bearings, Aliya sets her sights on conquering everything that once plagued her. As Noah and Aliya navigate an unknown future, trusting in each other's passion to carry them through, dark secrets come to light about their fathers’ deaths. The fated mates search for the truth, but who they find lurking instead threatens to devour the entire Greenfield Pack’s sense of safety.

ORDER BOOK 2

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AVAILABLE NOW in eBook (Kindle Unlimited) and Paperback

UNRAVELING WITH YOU

Novel - NEW RELEASE

In a moody yet sweet tale of true love, an excitable punk unravels a shy goth’s deepest secrets in both the bedroom and her heart - until she unravels him.

 

     All Lilibeth wants is to be able to carry massive pots of soup she cooks for work. When a personal trainer harasses her on her first visit to the gym, a tattooed stranger with dark, brooding eyes defends Lilibeth in the heat of her anxiety.

     Upon closer look, bad boy Remington’s half-up smile never fails to lift Lilibeth's spirits - and he’s eager to become her gorgeous new gym buddy. Lilibeth sets aside her rising attraction to Remington, hoping his natural instinct to praise inspires her to develop more self-confidence.

     But when Lilibeth learns that Remington is a Dungeon Monitor at Club X, her secret fantasies push to the surface, begging to be shared with Remington, and Remington alone. 

     Although, sharing her innermost fantasies holds an intensely romantic, emotional intimacy she never expected. Braving painful shyness and an abusive upbringing, Lilibeth not only has to learn it’s safe to say “no” if she wants to play with Remington, but also has to uncover Remington’s harbored secrets that prevent his smile from lifting both cheeks.

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RESONANCE (Space Gays)

Webcomic - ONGOING

     Goofy yet dark, sweet yet spicy, "Resonance" stars the loving, consensual, space-gay drama the world craves. 

     Astronauts Theo and Hayato propelled each other's careers, but their secret, romantic feelings were sidelined - a necessary sacrifice for takeoff. Space forces them into 24/7 contact, threatening the balance. Tensions escalate as Hayato questions everything he thought was stable before takeoff, including his space company's morality.

     With spacecraft mysteries, emotional twists, and high-stakes relationships, RESONANCE shoots further than the moon; it's time for humanity's first visit to Mars.

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THE LIFEWEAVER

Novel - SEEKING REPRESENTATION

     Alessio is a sad farmer, hopelessly in love with Rowan, a long-haired pretty boy. But Alessio is a LifeWeaver, capable of not only guiding souls into their bodies to create life, but also back into the Universal Flow to create death. Rowan is a Giver who restores people's energy to keep people alive, so LifeWeavers and Givers don't always align. To make matters worse, a traumatic loss of a close friend has made Alessio a shut-in for years. He has to decide if his irresistible attraction to Rowan is worth braving his anxiety around abandonment and trusting in love again.

     This is a feel-good, sexy Fantasy Romance with my most transgender cast to date!

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THE LIGHTNING SHEPHERD

Novel - WRITING

    Keenan isn’t just a storm lover, not even just a storm chaser, although he is both those things. As a lightning shepherd, he attracts lightning from miles away. Although he has no idea why he has this paranormal ability, Keenan decides to use it to help the community by drawing lightning away from civilization, or by preventing forest fires from dry lightning as a firefighter.

     But the worst happens when an unexpected visitor arrives at the closed lake during a storm, and Keenan feels guilty. Even worse, he thinks he experiences love at first sight with the half-dead lightning-strike victim. He has to revive them, but that doesn’t erase his new fear of the lightning he used to love - and never leaves him alone. (I promise this is a sappy love story between compassionate trans men!)

Image by Erica Marsland Huynh

(UNTITLED)

Novel - WRITING

    Born in the 1690s, Natalie and Evan bond over something they've discovered about themselves but don't have the words for: they're transgender. Escaping to the forest after daily chores, they create a fantasy world where they finally belong. Natalie's love for Evan grows as they age into young adults, but their safe space slowly fades away as Puritan society dominates their lives. After witnessing the violence that awaits her, Natalie has to carve her path as Evan's future wife before Evan's parents sell him to a powerful, older cis man. 

Image by Benjamin Voros

THE PROTECTOR

Novel - WRITING

    From the same universe as the LifeWeaver Series, Jules and Desi (two transgender men) participate in a treacherous trial to gain an official title for their Purposes - Protectors. Desi, however, has a huge secret; he's not only a Protector, he's also a Nurturer. As they climb the steepest mountain in the country, they're confronted with the harsh reality of other Protectors acting more like Controllers that force those "weaker" than them to obey. Jules is determined to help Desi prove them all wrong, that a Protector can be wholly Nurturing.

Completed or Inactive

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WHAT-SEXUAL??

Webcomic - COMPLETED

    When a stranger crawls beneath a public bathroom stall to save your life, you know he's a keeper.

     After losing his ex-boyfriend due to questions about his gender identity, Tyler also loses himself somewhere along the way. Just as life feels the darkest, Casey enters the picture, determined to turn everything around.

     WHAT-SEXUAL?? was completed in 2022 and has been printed as a physical graphic novel! Volume 1 is currently available and Volume 2 is coming soon in early 2023.

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INDIGO THE MUSICAL

Musical - PERFORMANCE TBD

     My sibling, Blake (they/them), and I co-created a musical titled after the main character's name, Indigo (they/them, non-binary person).

    Having neglected their dreams of becoming a writer, Indigo finally runs away from an abusive household holding them back. They end up in Boston, where they discover that they just might be holding themself back, as well.
    After a staged reading in November 2019, Blake and I revised and added to INDIGO until it was half a new musical (much to my relief)! We were planning a staged production in April 2020 but the country was put on lockdown. At-home alternatives are in the works, but nothing is ready to be publicly announced just yet.

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HE'S MY CELEBRITY CRUSH

Webcomic - INDEFINITE HIATUS

     AJ, a famous fashion designer, accepts a job with a rookie musician, Sage, neither of them realizing they’re each other’s biggest celebrity crush. The two struggle to navigate loneliness and connection in the dating app world, already isolated in the entertainment industry.

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CHRONIC NIGHTMARE SYNDROME

Webcomic - DISCONTINUED

     A chronically ill young woman has been asleep for so long that her dreams are now her main reality. A permanent dream may be pleasant for some, but unfortunately for her, she only dreams in nightmares.

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     This was my VERY FIRST WEBCOMIC! It saved my life and everything I learned from it became the backbone for every future story I've gone on to create.

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