Book picks similar to
The Imperfect Heart by J.K. Benson


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The Second Time Around


Rowan McAllister - 2018
    He’s never going to become the lawyer his parents hope for or provide the daughter-in-law and two-point-four grandkids they expect. Faced with an ultimatum—carry on living the lie or get out—Jordan leaves with only what he can pack in his BMW. Homeless, jobless, directionless, Jordan heads to one of his mother’s pet charities: Better the Second Time Around Rescue Ranch. With his family name and charm, he has the staff eating out of his hand in no time—except for one man. Russ has never been handed anything, and he resents the spoiled rich brat using the ranch to live out a fantasy. Though Jordan is determined to prove himself to Russ through hard work, family and old wounds complicate matters. Will Jordan realize that what he sees as an escape is real life for most people? And can Russ accept that Jordan can grow—and that he wants him?

Scarred


J.M. Snyder - 2002
    He has never known anything but hurt from the hands of men ... until he meets Coby. When the new regulator rides into town and takes an interest in him, Dae is unwilling to believe that anyone who is a regulator can be a gentle, caring lover. Is Coby strong enough to protect Dae and his sister Delia when there's hell to pay in the form of McBane?

Into the Lion's Den


Tionne Rogers - 2011
    What would have happened if Constantin Repin had seduced Guntram first? Could a naive boy be happy with a Russian gangster? Could Konrad von Lintorff allow his greatest to enemy to live in bliss? A parallel universe to the novel "The Substitute".

Kill Game


Cordelia Kingsbridge - 2017
    He’s reeling from the fallout of a fatal shooting, and his relationship with his boyfriend is crumbling. The last thing he’s prepared for is a serial killer stalking the streets of Las Vegas. Or how he keeps getting thrown into the path of annoyingly charming bounty hunter Dominic Russo.Dominic likes his life free of complications. That means no tangling with cops—especially prickly, uptight detectives. But when he stumbles across one of the Seven of Spades’s horrifying crime scenes, he can’t let go, despite Levi’s warnings to stay away.The Seven of Spades is ruthless and always two moves ahead. Worst of all, they’ve taken a dangerously personal interest in Levi and Dominic. Forced to trust each other, the two men race to discover the killer’s identity, revealing hidden truths along the way and sparking a bond neither man expected. But that may not be enough to protect them.This killer likes to play games, and the deck is not stacked in Levi and Dominic’s favor.

Bitter Legacy


Dal Maclean - 2016
    His remarkable gut instincts and relentless detective work have put him on a three-year fast track to becoming an inspector. When the murder of barrister Maria Curzon-Whyte lands in his lap, he finds himself drawn back into the insidious world of London's privileged elite where men like James's father possess wealth and power enough to hold the law in contempt. As James navigates the promiscuous, secretive and corrupt spheres of the rich, the murderer strikes again. Soon James begins to fear that these crimes lead dangerously close to his own heart and home. And now, he risks losing everything he's made of his life unless he can expose the sordid truths that have bred this bitter legacy.

Love Life & Circumstance


V.L. Moon - 2013
    He worked hard, devoting his time and energy to the family owned construction firm, leaving little time to focus on the deplorable state of his private life. Small town America was no place to be when all a man craved was the touch of another man. Elijah hid his sexuality and tried in vain to convince himself he could be happy with a woman. Urged on by the dream of having the family he craved, Elijah couldn’t know a drunken one night stand would see him pay the ultimate price.Leaving the bright lights of Atlanta and placing his own life on hold, paralegal, Seth Jacobs, moved to Alabama hopeful that with a baby on the way, his twin sister Bethany would settle down. His older sister by five minutes, she gave him the confidence he needed while growing to come out and be proud of who he was. It was his turn to return the support. On arrival in Headland, Seth endeavored to make her see the dangers her behavior presented to her and her unborn child. But, to no avail.When destiny deals a cruel blow, and the life of a newborn baby hangs by a thread, Seth and Elijah are flung together to deal with the tragic circumstances. The grief threatens to consume them, while joy and fear work to unite them. Jealousy, love, lies and bitter truths rise to the surface and threaten to tear them apart. Can the powers of love and life bring them together and heal the loneliness that death leaves behind? Or will circumstance prevail and fuel the embers of love that draw them together?

Into the Light


Scarlet Blackwell - 2011
    Now he finds himself face to face with Eden Gray, the victim of that crime, who is now not so much the boy anymore, but the man. Eden makes Sean sit up and remember those forbidden desires he thought he had locked away forever and the guilt which has blighted his life.

A Red-Tainted Silence


Carolyn Gray - 2006
    Such a diva, even from the beginning. I was entranced, smitten, mesmerized. He had the face of an angel, and the voice of one, too--and almost from the start I began the pattern of losing Nicholas. I was good at that--I guess I never believed I really deserved him, what he would bring to us both. What we would experience, because of him. What we could be, because of him. What I could be because of the strength and belief he had in me.Denial denial denial.Damn, I was good at that. But I was going to have to get good at trust and acceptance, if I wanted to keep him.Publisher's Note: This book is a homoerotic love story. It contains sexual acts that may be offensive to some readers: male-male sexual practices.

The Pet's Play


M.D. Gregory - 2021
    Who will win? This is a Killough Company novella. It takes place as book 3.5 (between The Assassin and The Apprentice).

Loose Cannon


Sidney Bell - 2017
    In need of a place to crash, he's leaning on Miller Quinn. A patient, solidly masculine pillar of strength and support, Miller has always been there for him—except in the one way Church has wanted the most.With his staunchly conservative upbringing, Miller has been playing it straight his whole life. Now with Church so close again, it's getting harder to keep his denial intact. As they fumble their way back to friendship after so many years apart, Miller struggles to find the courage to accept who he really is. What he has with Church could be more than desire—it could be love. But it could also mean trouble.Church's criminal connections are closing in on the both of them, and more than their hearts are at risk. This time, their very lives are on the line.

In From the Cold


Mercy Celeste - 2011
    One born of wealth and privilege, the other born to working people, Nathan and Quinn shared everything. Sports, music, first kiss, first love.For sixteen years, Nathan has tried to forget Quinn. Tried to forget the stolen moments they’d shared as kids. He joined the Marines, married, not once but twice, went into law enforcement. He forgot.For sixteen years, Quinn couldn’t stop remembering. He fell into addiction, found music, lost himself, and became a country music superstar. He never forgot.Sixteen years after their one night together, tragedy conspires to reunite them.The murder of Quinn’s father sets them on a collision course not only with their past but with a killer. Nathan and Quinn struggle to deal with their past while the present slowly crashes around them. Brought together by grief, their tentative new beginning may very well come to a sizzling end, leaving them both out in the cold forever.Warning: May contain subject matter sensitive readers will find objectionable. Male/male sexual situations. Violence.

Pursuing the Egoist


Nero Seal - 2020
    SEX. MONEY. Yugo has everything he wants in life—a young, beautiful lover and a successful business he rules with an iron fist. His present holds no place for love or regrets until the door to his past creaks open, reanimating the beginning of his unhealthy obsession with Kuon, and all the anger, annoyance, curiosity, and lust that came with it.When the memory scratches at his contentment, making it bleed, he isn’t sure he will be able to let Kuon go again. This 36k word novella is an extra story from Obsession of the Egoist and a prequel to the Egoist series. It takes place at the end of chapter 4 in Obsession of the Egoist.Not a standalone.

Xylophone


K.Z. Snow - 2012
    That secret led him to develop his professional alter-ego, a sensual, androgynous dancer. When Dare begins his second (and considerably more wholesome) job playing clarinet in a polka band, he meets a young man who takes his grandmother out dancing. But Dare knows the man has his own secret. Jonah Day immediately recognizes the clarinetist. Three years earlier they crossed paths in a therapist's office, but they both abandoned that route to mental health. Neither was ready then to open up about the psychological traumas that haunted them. In an attempt to heal their wounds, Dare and Jonah turn to each other. Understanding and empathy come instantly, accompanied by ambivalence about their growing attraction. But the repercussions of victimization are many. Soon, the very experiences Dare and Jonah share threaten to drive them apart.

Rebel


Rhys Ford - 2017
    After years of running from his past, present and the dismal future every social worker predicted for him, Karma delivers the one thing Gus could never—would never—turn his back on; a son from a one-night stand he’d had after a devastating break-up three years ago.Returning to San Francisco and to 415 Ink, his family’s tattoo shop, gave him the perfect shelter to battle his personal demons and get himself together… until the firefighter who’d broken him walked back into Gus’s life.For Rey Montenegro, tattoo artist Gus Scott was an elusive brass ring, a glittering prize he hadn’t the strength or flexibility to hold onto. Severing his relationship with the mercurial tattoo artist hurt but Gus hadn’t wanted the kind of domestic life Rey craved, leaving Rey with an aching chasm in his soul.When Gus’s life and world starts to unravel, Rey helps him pick up the pieces, and Gus wonders if that forever Rey wants is more than just a dream.

Santori


Maris Black - 2017
     Michael Kage Santori has just inherited a thriving hotel and millions of dollars. He’s poised to become an MMA champion. Things couldn’t be better between him and his college boy lover, Jamie Atwood— especially in the bedroom, where Jamie is more than eager to let Kage take out his aggressions on him. Kage seems to have it all, but success and happiness have come at a steep price. After all of the childhood trauma he endured at the hands of his controlling uncle, Peter Santori, it’s a miracle Kage has any shred of sanity left. And now, because of him, Jamie is a murderer. More than anything, Kage wants to be good. He wants the be the kind of man who is worthy of Jamie’s love, but fate has other ideas. His uncle’s legacy has a stranglehold on him, and it keeps dragging him further and further down a rabbit hole from which there seems no escape. Worst of all… Kage knows he’s going to pull Jamie down right along with him, and he would rather die than let that happen. Previous books in this series: Kage Kage Unleashed Kage Unmasked