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Balls of Fire: Passion Sparks an Inferno is a madcap, hardboiled, homoerotic thrill ride that careens from Cold War missile silos to a seedy motel in hurricane-ravaged Florida, where secrets boil, lovers burn, and the absurd just might save the world. When former intelligence officer Leandro Sosa’s boyfriend is kidnapped from a lobster-themed strip club, he follows a trail of half-truths and power outages to the infamous Bates Motel—where a half-dozen shirtless men might be the only thing standing between America and total collapse. Meanwhile, the motel’s new management is staging burlesque revues, uncovering buried missiles, and falling in love faster than the feds can say "classified." Behind every door: betrayal, desire, and maybe—just maybe—redemption. And at the center? A shadowy conspiracy tying together corrupt sheriffs, foreign espionage, old flames, and a goat named Afterthought. With the heart of A Confederacy of Dunces, the muscle of vintage noir, and the flair of a Mel Brooks fever dream, D.M. Boone’s debut is equal parts satire, romance, and apocalyptic striptease. Everyone’s watching. Someone’s lying. And love, as always, is the deadliest weapon of all. This is the first chapter from my ongoing book, Balls of Fire: Passion Sparks an Inferno. It’s free to read, and I’d love your feedback. Whether you’re here for the queer romance, the satire, the espionage, or just a taste of something different, you’re in the right place. Every section stands on its own—but together they tell a wild, dangerous, deeply personal story. Let me know what strikes you, what confuses you, what makes you laugh—or ache. Disclaimer: Any resemblance to real people, places, or events is purely coincidental—or suspiciously well-observed. Either way, it’s fiction. Probably.