Book picks similar to
Charlie's Hero by Nic Starr
m-m
mm
contemporary
romance
Bad Idea
Damon Suede - 2013
Reclusive comic book artist Trip Spector spends his life doodling super-square, straitlaced superheroes, hiding from his fans, and crushing on his unattainable boss until he meets the dork of his dreams. Silas Goolsby is a rowdy FX makeup creator with a loveless love life and a secret streak of geek who yearns for unlikely rescues and a truly creative partnership.Against their better judgment, they fall victim to chemistry, and what starts as infatuation quickly grows tender and terrifying. With Silas’s help, Trip gambles his heart and his art on a rotten plan: sketching out Scratch, a "very graphic novel" that will either make his name or wreck his career. But even a smash can't save their world if Trip retreats into his mild-mannered rut, leaving Silas to grapple with betrayal and emotions he can't escape. What will it take for this dynamic duo to discover that heroes never play it safe?
Something About You
Riley Hart - 2018
Frankly, he's as regular as can be. He works construction with his brothers, loves his small-town life, and shares a close bond with his family, especially his grandmother. Okay, so maybe he has a few secrets in his closet, like his bisexuality…and that other thing he doesn’t talk about… Grayson ‘Saint’ St. Claire has it all: a dream job in LA, money, freedom. Saint doesn’t do attachments, which is just the way he likes it. Still, he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he missed his deceased parents, the only family he had... Until he gets an email from some guy named Tyler, revealing the existence of a grandmother he’s never met, prompting Saint to drop everything and drive across the country. Saint and Tyler couldn't be more different. Tyler dislikes Saint on sight, but there's something about Tyler that gets under Saint's skin. It’s not until they get to know one another that everything begins to change for the better. But the Holloways and St. Claires have secrets, their pasts tied together in tragic ways. With the odds stacked against them, Saint and Tyler have to face the fact that love alone might not be enough…
The Nothingness of Ben
Brad Boney - 2012
His life is perfect until he gets a phone call that brings it all crashing down: a car accident takes his parents, and now he must return to Austin to raise three teenage brothers he barely knows.During the funeral, Ben meets Travis Atwood, the redneck neighbor with a huge heart. Their relationship initially runs hot and cold, from contentious to flirtatious, but when the weight of responsibility starts wearing on Ben, he turns to Travis, and the pressure shapes their friendship into something that feels a lot like love. Ben thinks he’s found a way to have his old life, his new life, and Travis too, but love isn’t always easy. Will he learn to recognize that sometimes the worst thing imaginable can lead him to the place he was meant to be?
Spark
Posy Roberts - 2013
They were only teens, and despite many obstacles, they fell in love. But young loves drift apart.Hugo hasn’t been in love since. Dating is a chore, his drag queen persona and acting gigs are always an issue, so he’s just done with men . . . until he runs into Kevin at the lake.Years after their last kiss, the spark is still strong, but life is complex. Kevin lives in the shadow of divorce and is navigating single fatherhood. Plus no one knows he’s bisexual.Rekindling their romance is easy away from the demands of the city, but what about when real life kicks in?Does their love stand a chance this second time around?Spark is book one in the North Star Trilogy, a love story that spans twenty years. Friendship, single fatherhood, family life, angst, hurt/comfort, past abuse themes, medical caregiving, as well as life’s celebrations and challenges are found in this novel. Family is central to this saga that will stick with you long after you finish the series.
Tied Together
Z.B. Heller - 2015
Crew. His cocky attitude and good looks got him what he wanted, including samples off the man meat buffet. Then he found his favorite dessert, Brandon. But Brandon wasn’t sending out a rainbow vibe so Ryan was sent to the land that crushes dread, the friend zone.Brandon Ford was buried so deep down in the closet that clothes from the seventies had a better chance of coming out. His anxieties of acting on his desires could keep a therapist entertained for hours. Even though he did his best to build his emotions out of bricks, it was no use against Ryan’s charms.Follow Ryan and Brandon’s relationship from high school, to college and beyond to find out if they will be Tied Together.Warning: No Anaconda Turtles have been harmed in the making of this book.
Wild Pitch
Sloan Johnson - 2015
The day he acknowledged to himself that he was gay was also the day he vowed to stay in the closet in order to chase his dreams. The problem is, he never counted on Mason Atley.Sean showed rookie short stop Mason Atley the ropes, both on the field and off. The two forged a friendship which continued as both of them moved through the ranks of the farm system and into the majors. Unfortunately, there’s always been one secret Mason never felt he could share with Sean. Until now.For seven years, Sean lived with the fact that he loved a man who would never reciprocate. When Mason admits that he’s always known he’s bisexual but has never allowed himself to pursue a relationship with a man, will Sean be able to put aside his reservations about starting a relationship with the friend he’d always assumed was straight? And more importantly, will they be able to find a way to stay together when their careers keep them apart more than they can be together?
Deliver Me
Faith Gibson - 2015
After fifteen years in the business, he’s drowning in it all. When tragedy strikes, he takes a break from the road and the monotony his life has become. When he meets a gorgeous man on a park bench, he sees his lifeline.Dr. Erik Henrikson thought he’d met the one.He had.The wrong one.A year after his breakup, he still has a lock on his heart. Then he meets Lee, someone whose life has just been turned upside down. When he finds out Lee’s true identity, Erik throws away the key.Tag has two weeks to make the doctor want him. He has three months to prove he won’t hurt him.Tragedy brings them together.Lies and betrayal push them apart.Is love enough to deliver them?
Hard Hart
E. Davies - 2019
He’s ditched his no-good ex, sworn off men, moved to a new town with his four best friends, and started the pottery business of his dreams. And then he slept with his hunky new neighbor. Oops. Jesse needs to focus on work, but all he can think about is getting Finn between his hands like a perfectly-shaped work of clay.Trouble just blew into town, and his name is Jesse. Finn Hart knows that pursuing Jesse will ignite old family tensions, but he can’t stay away. The construction foreman has never built a lasting relationship. He’s too busy keeping the peace in a town that was founded by one Hart, but is slowly being strangled by another—Finn’s grandfather.Finn and Jesse are on the same page: they want to save Hart’s Bay, and it starts by bringing tourists in with Jesse’s new art gallery. But their hearts are bruised, and taking a chance comes with a price. Not everyone in Hart’s Bay wants change. For a few narrow minds, nothing good should come to Finn’s branch of the Harts, and that includes love.Can love wash away twenty years of bad blood and bring a new dawn for Jesse, Finn, and all of Hart's Bay?Hard Hart is the first book in the new Hart’s Bay series about a small town full of nosy but well-meaning neighbors and brotherly banter. It’s a standalone novel with a happily-ever-after ending, and plenty of smiles and steam along the way. If that cove could talk… oh boy, has it ever seen things. The second Hart’s Bay novel, Changed Hart, will be released September 3rd, 2019!
Surprise Groom
D.J. Jamison - 2019
Sofia Chastain is more like a sister than a love interest, and Caleb isn’t ready to sign over his future. But Sofia has a brother, and Caleb has a plan ... Julien Chastain was disowned at fifteen and has made a life as a go-go dancer in Miami, but he lives paycheck to paycheck. When his childhood friend proposes an outlandish marriage contract, he thinks he’s crazy. But it’s a chance at a future that’s tough to pass up. Caleb and Julien must present themselves as an authentic couple for the legal loophole to work, but the lines between “fake” and “real” keep shifting as they navigate intimacy, public scrutiny, and sabotage. Love isn't part of the plan, but plans change. If they can outsmart Julien's father and prove their love is worth more than a transaction, they just might find a true happily-ever-after.
The Game Changer
Kay Simone - 2016
A gay physical therapist. Love is out of bounds… Right? Malcolm Rodgers loses everything in one week.The quarterback is benched with an injury the same week his fiancée breaks off their engagement. Lost, hurting, and stuck on the sidelines, Malcolm must spend his days in physical therapy with the one person who refuses to let him get back in the game: cocky Vance Coberly.Vance is out and proud in the macho world of pro football. As the top physical therapist in his field, flirting with football players is strictly out of bounds.But the rules of play all change when Vance meets Malcolm.Malcolm can’t deny what he feels for Vance — but Vance won’t be someone’s one-time fling. Can a Hail Mary gesture save the deepest love Malcolm has ever felt?
Cupcakes
Sean Michael - 2014
Now Allen is the owner of Sweet ‘n’ Sassy Cupcake Shop, a cute boutique downtown, where he invents delicious flavors like strawberry and French meringue. Between working long hours and making special orders, Allen barely has time to think.Then a hunky contractor walks into his shop looking for a treat. Allen and Byron Bannigan are total opposites, but they're perfect together—salty and sweet like Allen’s signature peanut butter and chocolate ganache cupcakes. But as Allen struggles to juggle his business and his boyfriend, he learns he can only handle so much. He may have to choose between the cupcakes in his store and the cupcake in his bed.
Linemates
D.K. Dunn - 2015
He’s playing professional hockey in Los Angeles where hockey is barely on the radar, and this allows him to live in relative anonymity. Derek’s world is tilted on its axis when he’s traded to the Detroit Wheels. Not only is this one of the top teams in the National Hockey League, he’ll also be playing in a city that lives and breathes hockey. It sounds like a dream come true, but soon enough it becomes clear it isn’t.The reason for Derek’s change of heart is Trevor Ladouceur. Five years ago Derek and Trevor were linemates on Team Canada at the World Junior Championship. They were inseparable both on and off the ice and became known as the Wonder Twins. After winning the gold medal, they slept together. Trevor was gone the next morning, and they haven’t spoken since. Now they’re together again, and the expectation is for the Wonder Twins to help Detroit win the Stanley Cup. Much to Derek’s dismay, he realizes he’s falling in love with Trevor all over again.
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.
At Piper's Point
Ethan Day - 2010
Cassidy's plans of a quiet, seaside ceremony to wish a final farewell to Sadie quickly unravel. Interruptions run roughshod, beginning with Neil, who walks out of the ocean and straight into Cassidy's bed. The dominos topple one by one when the little dog he rescues from the hounds of hell brings him to Ben, the hunky vet who rescues Cassidy right back. News of his arrival spreads faster than Cassidy's legs, bringing his boyhood friend and first love Nate Sommers to his doorstep -- leaving Cassidy spiraling into a multi-layered love snafu. As if the island wasn't getting crowded enough for Cassidy's good taste and bad decisions, best friends Ollie and Spencer arrive in time to witness the uninvited return of Cassidy's most recent ex, Teddy, who's refusing to stay dumped. Fists fly and all hell breaks loose amid mojitos and martinis while Cassidy finds himself planning a huge party to celebrate Sadie's life. Accusations are aimed as arguments and libidos boil over, but even through the chaos Cassidy knows exactly who he wants. While he's certainly willing, he isn't sure if he's ready or able for love and life at Pipers Point.
Lost and Found
Lucy Lennox - 2017
But when I needed him the most, that was exactly what he did…Wilderness guide Xander Reed has spent fifteen years trying to forget the night he turned to his best friend in his darkest hour, only to find the young man who’d sworn to always have his back was turning his on Xander instead. Two thousand miles and fifteen years of building a new life in the quiet backcountry of the Rocky Mountains should have been enough to put the memory of Bennett Crawford out of his mind forever, but old wounds run deep and when Bennett suddenly reappears in his life as part of a wilderness expedition Xander is guiding, the scars he thought long healed break wide open.I’d only ever wanted to protect Xander from getting hurt again. I never considered the one he needed protection from was me…Bennett Crawford was faced with an impossible choice the night his best friend needed him.He chose wrong.As the only son of one of the wealthiest families in New England, he should have had the world at his feet, but losing his best friend at the tender age of fourteen changed everything. And even though Bennett’s managed to hide behind a mask of contentment as he takes his place at his father’s side in the family business, inside he’s searching for the piece of himself that’s been missing ever since Xander Reed walked out of his life. Bennett’s only saving grace is his work with a group of inner city kids, and when he’s given the chance to show the troubled teens that there’s a bigger world out there waiting for them if they just have the courage to reach for it, he takes it.But when he steps off that bus for what was supposed to be a week of fun and adventure, he’s instantly returned to the past when he discovers their expedition guide is none other than the boy he let go so long ago. Only, the soft-hearted, insecure little boy Bennett once knew is gone, and in his place is a brooding, bitter man who isn’t interested in second chances.People leave. I know that now and nothing Bennett has to say to me will change anything…All Bennett wants is another chance to show Xander that friendship was only the beginning. But when a stubborn Xander refuses to even hear him out, Bennett realizes he’s going to need to fight dirty.Because now that he’s found Xander again, he’s not letting him go a second time…