Book picks similar to
The Husband Gambit by L.A. Witt
m-m
mm
romance
contemporary
Fake the Date
Ana Byrde - 2020
Sadly, this has never stopped my mother from finding lovely young women for me to date. My sister suggests I bring my own date to her destination wedding. Problem is, I don't know how to find dates. The only man I've spoken to recently is my roommate. My way too hot--straight--roommate. My sister says I should ask him to play my boyfriend. It'll be fun, she says. Now I'm sitting next to him on a plane and I constantly have to adjust myself so he doesn't notice that I'm into him. In a few hours we'll be at our hotel, sharing the only bed in the room.I don't know how I'll survive this wedding without exploding. I do know I'll never listen to my sister again. Fake the Date is a 60,000 word standalone m/m romance with little angst and lots of laughter, featuring a tropical island paradise, a not-so-fake relationship, bisexual awakening, a sassy dog and happy endings. Buy now if you need a vacation!
There's This Guy
Rhys Ford - 2017
Every penny he makes as a welder goes to care for his dying father, an abusive, controlling man who’s the only family Jake has left. Because of a promise to his dead mother, Jake resists his desire for other men, but it leaves him consumed by darkness. It takes all of Dallas Yates’s imagination to see the possibilities in the fatigued Art Deco building on the WeHo’s outskirts, but what seals the deal is a shy smile from the handsome metal worker across the street. Their friendship deepens while Dallas peels back the hardened layers strangling Jake’s soul. It’s easy to love the artistic, sweet man hidden behind Jake’s shattered exterior, but Dallas knows Jake needs to first learn to love himself.When Jake’s world crumbles, he reaches for Dallas, the man he’s learned to lean on. It’s only a matter of time before he’s left to drift in a life he never wanted to lead and while he wants more, Jake’s past haunts him, making him doubt he’s worth the love Dallas is so desperate to give him.
Renegades
E.M. Lindsey - 2020
An ex-MMA fighter, single father, and a lawyer helping to better the lives of LGBT teens. But his life isn’t as simple as it seems, and things get turned a little upside down when he stumbles on a troubled man on the side of the road, making his way through a snowstorm. Soren knows one of his biggest problems is his bleeding heart, but how can he turn away when he was once that man out in the cold? Kane Winters once had it easy. Rich parents, silver spoon, everything at his disposal. But Kane was never a lucky man, and nothing is proof of that more than his abusive boyfriend dying in a freak accident, and his uncontrollable anger sending him into a tailspin. He returned to Fairfield with a chip on his shoulder, felony on his record, and no hope of recovering himself as the man he once was. Kane was certain that he was condemned to this life—cold, alone, and unloved. Then, in the middle of a storm, a stranger pulls over to offer him a ride. Kane took a blind leap once, and it almost destroyed his life, but he’s not so sure the bald man with the walking cane and kind eyes would be anything like his ex. Will the two men figure out a way to make it work, or will their pasts continue to leave them to a future without hope? Renegades is the first book in the series, Breaking the Rules- an Irons and Works spin-off. Each book contains no cheating with an HEA.
A Fortunate Blizzard
L.C. Chase - 2015
And with good reason: he’s been on the transplant-recipient list for too long now. When he learns just how numbered his days truly are, he resolves not to take them for granted. But he won’t be unrealistic, either—which means romantic commitments are off the table.Marcus Roberts seems to have it all. He’s handsome, financially sound, and on the fast track to partnership at a prestigious law firm. In reality, though, his drive for success has meant no time for friends or relationships. Add in the fact that his family discarded him long ago, and he’s facing yet another holiday season alone.When the biggest snowstorm to hit Colorado in decades leaves Marc and Trevor stranded at the same hotel, a chance encounter and a night of passion leads to more than either of them expected. Finding comfort in each other is a welcome surprise, but time is not on their side. Either they find a way to beat the odds, or they lose each other forever.2015 Foreword Reviews IndieFab Awards Finalist, LGBT2015 Foreword Reviews IndieFab Awards Finalist, Romance2016 Rainbow Awards, Runner Up, Best Gay Book2016 Rainbow Awards, Runner Up, Best Gay Contemporary Romance
Snow Falling
Davidson King - 2017
Tell nobody your name. Tell nobody your secrets. Trust nobody! These are the rules of the streets. His entire life changes when he saves an eight-year-old boy from a violent end. Christopher Manos is one of the most powerful crime bosses in the country. Don’t ask anyone to do something you aren’t willing to do yourself. Secrets can get you killed. Trust nobody! These are the rules he lives by. When his eight-year-old nephew disappears, he never expects the boy’s savior to end up being his own. A man with a dangerous past and a man with a dangerous future find love amidst murder and mayhem. But with Snow's life being threatened at every turn, will Christopher's best be enough to prevent Snow Falling?
Hush
Tal Bauer - 2017
marshal running from his past.A trial that can plunge the world into war. Federal Judge Tom Brewer is finally putting the pieces of his life back together. In the closet for twenty-five long years, he’s climbing out slowly, and, with the hope of finding a special relationship with the stunning Mike Lucciano, U.S. Marshal assigned to his DC courthouse. He wants to be out and proud, but he can’t erase his own past, and the lessons he learned long ago. But a devastating terrorist attack in the heart of DC, and the subsequent capture and arrest of the terrorist, leads to a trial that threatens to expose the dark underbelly of America’s national security. As Russia beats the drums of war, intent on seeking revenge, and the United States struggles to contain the storm before it races out of control, secrets and lies, past and present, collide in Judge Tom Brewer’s courtroom. With the world’s attention fixed on Tom and this case, he suddenly discovers he may be the only person who can put everything together in time to stop the spark of a new world war.
The Truth As He Knows It
A.M. Arthur - 2015
Officer Noel Carlson isn’t out to anyone in small-town Stratton, Pennsylvania, only to distant friends and family, so a relationship is out of the question. That doesn’t stop him from wanting one, though. When a night-shift call brings him face to thonged butt with a hired stripper whose girl-party gig went terribly wrong, Noel takes pity on the guy and lets him go. But he can’t get the encounter out of his mind. Shane has big-time debts to repay, especially to the brother who sacrificed nearly everything for him. His two jobs, in a deli and as a stripper, leave him no time for a social life. But a non-date of hot sex and takeout food with Noel? He can squeeze that in. The bond they form is stronger than either expected or wanted. Especially since the step Shane’s about to take to put his brother—and his soul—back in the black isn’t quite legal. And he never calculated just how much his determination to make things right will cost him in the end. Note: This book was previously published by Samhain Publishing. No significant changes have been made to the text. Please read with tissues handy.
On Solid Ground
Melissa Collins - 2015
The man who normally has a clear path to victory surrounded by brothers in combat is suddenly lost and alone. After meeting Beckett Ridge, a bearded tattoo artist, Dax’s journey begins winding down an unexpected path. Still reeling from events that shook his foundation, Beck has never been part of anything meaningful. Now faced with responsibilities foreign and daunting, Dax’s broken spirit mends Beck in ways he never even knew he was destroyed. As both struggle to find balance, they are healed by the comfort they find in one other. On the other side of chaos, they hope to find themselves On Solid Ground.
Home
Cara Dee - 2016
I couldn’t guarantee I’d be off the streets yet; in fact, I was sure I had more nights on park benches and behind Dumpsters ahead of me. But at least I’d get see my little girl again. I’d get to make new memories with her.It was on my way to my daughter that I met Adrian. A straitlaced history teacher who, according to his brother, had a habit of rescuing strays. Not that I bought the nice-guy act. Well, at first. His kind grins made me react weirdly. I felt it in my chest.
This story takes place in Cara Dee’s Camassia Cove Universe, a fictional town where all books stand on their own, unless otherwise stated, and the reader can jump in wherever they want.
Cocky
Sean Ashcroft - 2017
I want you to pretend to date me.” Faking a relationship with an injured hockey player had never been on Eliot’s to-do list, but when he’s sent by his editor to interview the newly-out hockey legend Danny Harper, he gets a little more than he bargained for. Eliot has been stuck writing a fashion and grooming column that no one reads since he started at Cocky—a men’s lifestyle magazine—a year ago. Desperate to prove himself, he takes the assignment to interview Harper, even though he couldn’t hold a hockey stick the right way up in an emergency. Danny turns out to be nothing like he expected—a lonely man who’s missed out on a lot by being in the closet, rather than the overconfident jock Eliot expects him to be. As much as he resists it, Eliot finds himself drawn to the other man. When Danny proposes they fake a relationship to improve his image, Eliot jumps at the chance—not only does he need the money, but his curiosity about Danny demands to be satisfied. With Danny struggling to get through the season on a busted knee and Eliot digging up the story that could make his own career, can the two of them bring themselves to admit their real feelings and find their happy ending? Cocky is a standalone gay romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger. It does, however, contain peppermint lip balm, platonic(ish) bed-sharing, explicit sex scenes, hockey-related injuries, and several five a.m. starts.
Heart of the Steal
Avon Gale - 2017
Right and wrong, justice and injustice—the differences are clear, and Will has spent his career drawing a line between them. Maybe his convictions have cost him relationships, but he’s not willing to compromise what he knows is right. Until the night he meets Amory Vaughn.As the head of his family’s philanthropic foundation, Vaughn knows very well that being rich and powerful can get him almost anything he wants. And when he meets endearingly grumpy and slightly awkward William Fox, he wants him more than he’s wanted anything. Vaughn is used to being desired for his name and his money, but Will doesn’t care about either.When Vaughn falls back on old habits and attempts to impress Will by stealing a painting Will admires, their nascent bond blows up in his face. But Vaughn isn’t willing to give up on the glimpse of passion he saw the night he took Will apart. Before Will knows it, he’s falling for the man he should have arrested, and Vaughn has to realize that some things can’t be bought or stolen. Love has to be given freely. But can a man who lives by the rules, and a man who thinks the rules don’t apply to him, ever see eye to eye? Heart of the Steal is a standalone romance with a happy ending. It features a Southern gentleman who thinks he’s always right, a buttoned-up FBI agent who secretly likes his buttons unbuttoned, and wall sex. And desk sex. And picnic blanket sex.
Tell Me It's Real
T.J. Klune - 2013
For current Paperback edition see: Tell Me It's RealDo you believe in love at first sight? Paul Auster doesn't. Paul doesn't believe in much at all. He's thirty, slightly overweight, and his best features are his acerbic wit and the color commentary he provides as life passes him by. His closest friends are a two-legged dog named Wheels and a quasibipolar drag queen named Helena Handbasket. He works a dead-end job in a soul-sucking cubicle, and if his grandmother's homophobic parrot insults him one more time, Paul is going to wring its stupid neck. Enter Vince Taylor. Vince is everything Paul isn't: Sexy, confident, and dumber than the proverbial box of rocks. And for some reason, Vince pursues Paul relentlessly. Vince must be messing with him, because there is no way Vince could want someone like Paul. But when Paul hits Vince with his car - in a completely unintentional if-he-died-it'd-only-be-manslaughter kind of way - he's forced to see Vince in a whole new light. The only thing stopping Paul from believing in Vince is himself - and that is one obstacle Paul can't quite seem to overcome. But when tragedy strikes Vince's family, Paul must put aside any notions he has about himself and stand next to the man who thinks he's perfect the way he is.
Locked In Silence
Sloane Kennedy - 2017
It’s easier not to try anymore…Ten years after leaving his small Minnesota hometown in his rearview mirror for what Nolan Grainger was sure would be the last time, life has decided to throw the talented musician a curveball and send him back to the town he lived in but was never really home.At twenty-eight, Nolan has traveled the world as a successful concert violinist with some of the best symphonies in the country. But success breeds envy, and when Nolan’s benefactor and lover decides Nolan has flown high enough, he cruelly clips Nolan’s wings. The betrayal and ensuing scandal leaves the violinist’s career in shambles and with barely enough money to start fresh somewhere beyond his vindictive ex’s powerful reach. But just as he’s ready to get his life back on track, Nolan gets the call he’s been dreading.After a stroke leaves his father a partial invalid, duty-bound Nolan returns to Pelican Bay and a life he’s spent years trying to forget. When he’s forced to use the last of his own money to keep from losing the family home, desperation has him turning to the one man he’d hoped never to see again…Even if I could speak, there wouldn’t be anyone there to listen…Pelican Bay’s golden boy, Dallas Kent, had the quintessential perfect life. Smart, gorgeous, and popular, the baseball phenom was well on his way to a life filled with fame and fortune. But more importantly, he had a one-way ticket out of Pelican Bay and far away from the family who used love as currency and whose high expectations were the law of the land. But a stormy night, sharp highway curve and one bad decision changed everything, leaving Dallas with nothing.Because the accident that took his parents, his future and his crown as the boy who could do no wrong, also stole his voice.Despised for the horrific wreck that ended the lives of two of Pelican Bay’s most respected residents, Dallas has retreated to a secluded stretch of land where he’s found refuge in a menagerie of unwanted animals that don’t care that he once had the world at his feet or that he’ll never speak again.But when the quiet, bookish boy he wasn’t allowed to notice in school suddenly reappears ten years later at Dallas’s wildlife rehab center in desperate need of a job, Dallas is thrust back into a world he’s worked hard to escape.Dallas’s silence was supposed to send Nolan scurrying, but what if Nolan ends up being the one person who finally hears him?Will two men who’ve been fleeing from the past finally come home to Pelican Bay for good or will the silence drive them apart forever?
The Boyfriend Game
Stella Starling - 2018
Carter Olson never expected he’d get a chance to date his older brother’s best friend, Rip Taylor. Wished for it? Yes. Fantasized about it? Possibly too much. But ever thought it would actually happen? Not in a million years, since Rip is straight. But even if it’s just to try and win a gay game show, having Rip for a boyfriend—even a temporary/pretend one—is still the best thing to happen to Carter in... well, ever. Especially because Rip’s so good at it. Amazingly good, actually. So good that Carter starts to hope that maybe it won’t have to end once the show’s over… If there are two things Rip Taylor lives for, they’re having fun and being there for his friends, so a trip to Vegas to help surprise his best friend’s girlfriend with a big, flashy proposal sounds awesome. And even more fun? His bestie's plan to try and win some prize money for the wedding by signing the two of them up as contestants on The Boyfriend Game. The game show is sponsored by the gay dating app bLoved, and Rip is all in. He may be straight, but he's never been narrow, and when circumstances (aka a best friend who can't hold his tequila) mean that little Carter Olson gets roped into being Rip's fake boyfriend instead, that’s almost better… because who wouldn’t be able to be a convincing boyfriend to Carter? After all, Carter’s hella sweet. Kind of adorable, actually. And really, really easy to get into character with… Winning The Boyfriend Game? Rip and Carter have it in the bag. The Boyfriend Game is a gay romance novel of approximately 75,000 words that contains some confusion about tops and bottoms, a straight guy who realizes he isn’t, an ice cube that melts much too fast, and the kind of luck that can only be found in Vegas. Every Stella Starling romance takes place in the same interconnected, contemporary world. The Boyfriend Game is a standalone book with cameos from other Stella Starling stories, a #boyfriendsbybLoved spinoff that takes place around the time of the epilogue from Ready For Love (Book One of the Semper Fi series).
First Impressions
Jay Hogan - 2018
Then I added a couple more just for good measure. I screwed up my life, but I survived. Now I have the opportunity for a fresh start. Two years in NZ. Away from the LA gossip, a chance to breathe, to rebuild my life. But I’m taking a new set of rules with me.I don’t do relationships.I don’t do commitment.I don’t do white picket fences.And I especially don’t do arrogant, holier-than-thou, smoking hot K9 officers who walk into my ER and rock my world.Josh:One thing for certain, Dr. Michael Oliver is an arrogant, untrustworthy player, and I barely survived the last one of those. He might be gorgeous, but my daughter takes number one priority. I won’t risk her being hurt, again. I’m a solo dad, a K9 cop and a son to pain-in-the-ass parents.I don’t have time for games.I don’t have time for taking chances.I don’t have time for more complications in my life.And I sure as hell don’t have time for the infuriating Dr. Michael Oliver, however damn sexy he is.