Book picks similar to
The Evolution of Jeremy Warsh by Jess Moore
lgbt
young-adult
contemporary
netgalley
Being True
Jacob Z. Flores - 2014
Cobbler has not had an easy life. It’s bad enough people say he looks like Donkey from Shrek, but he’s also suffered the death of his policeman father and his mother’s remarriage to a professional swindler, who cost them everything. Now dirt poor, they live in the barrio of San Antonio, Texas. When Tru transfers to an inner-city high school halfway through his senior year, he meets Javi Castillo, a popular and hot high school jock. Javi takes an immediate liking to Tru, and the two become friends. The odd pairing, however, rocks the school and sets the cliquish social circles askew. No one knows how to act or what to think when Mr. Popular takes a stand for Mr. Donkey. Will the cliques rise up to maintain status quo and lead Tru and Javi to heartbreak and disaster or will being true to who they are rule the day?
The Bells of Times Square
Amy Lane - 2014
This year, however, his grandson Blaine is pushing Nate through the Manhattan streets, revealing his secrets to his silent, stroke-stricken grandfather.When Blaine introduces his boyfriend to his beloved grandfather, he has no idea that Nate holds a similar secret. As they endure the chilly death of the old year, Nate is drawn back in memory to a much earlier time . . . and to Walter.Long before, in a peace carefully crafted in the heart of wartime tumult, Nate and Walter forged a loving home in the midst of violence and chaos. But nothing in war is permanent, and now all Nate has is memories of a man his family never knew existed. And a hope that he’ll finally hear the church bells that will unite everybody—including the lovers who hid the best and most sacred parts of their hearts.
Some Kind of Normal
Juliana Stone - 2015
Until a car accident leaves Trevor with no band, no teammates and no chance of graduating. It's kinda hard to ace your finals when you've been in a coma. The last thing he needs is stuck-up Everly Jenkins as his new tutor—those beautiful blue eyes catching every last flaw.For Everly normal was a perfect family around the dinner table, playing piano at Sunday service and sunning by the pool. Until she discovers her whole life is a lie. Now the perfect pastor's daughter is hiding a life-changing secret, one that is slowly tearing her family apart. And spending the summer with notorious flirt Trevor Lewis means her darkest secret could be exposed.
Life in a Nowhere Town
Hanna Dare - 2016
It's not the sort of place where a quiet, eighteen-year-old who loves the Beatles and playing guitar can expect to fit in.Conor's also pretty sure he's the only gay person in town.Well, except for one other person...Derek Folsom is the kind of bad influence parents warn you about. He's tough, rough, and always looking for a fight. He's the last person anyone would suspect of being gay, in fact he's likely to punch anyone who does suspect it. So why is he suddenly so interested in Conor?Conor's pinning all his hopes on auditioning for a TV show. It's his only chance to realize his dreams, and escape all of these confusing feelings. But will he be able to find his voice... and his true self?
The You I've Never Known
Ellen Hopkins - 2017
Ariel’s mom disappeared when she was a baby. Dad says home is wherever the two of them are, but Ariel is now seventeen and after years of new apartments, new schools, and new faces, all she wants is to put down some roots. Complicating things are Monica and Gabe, both of whom have stirred a different kind of desire. Maya’s a teenager who’s run from an abusive mother right into the arms of an older man she thinks she can trust. But now she’s isolated with a baby on the way, and life’s getting more complicated than Maya ever could have imagined. Ariel and Maya’s lives collide unexpectedly when Ariel’s mother shows up out of the blue with wild accusations: Ariel wasn’t abandoned. Her father kidnapped her fourteen years ago. What is Ariel supposed to believe? Is it possible Dad’s woven her entire history into a tapestry of lies? How can she choose between the mother she’s been taught to mistrust and the father who has taken care of her all these years? In bestselling author Ellen Hopkins’s deft hands, Ariel’s emotionally charged journey to find out the truth of who she really is balances beautifully with Maya’s story of loss and redemption. This is a memorable portrait of two young women trying to make sense of their lives and coming face to face with themselves—for both the last and the very first time.
What It Takes
Jude Sierra - 2016
When Milo is called home from college to attend his domineering father’s funeral, he and Andrew finally act on their mutual attraction. But, doubtful of his worth, Milo decides to sever all ties with his childhood friend. Circumstances send both men home again years later, and their long held feelings will not be denied. But will they have what it takes to find lasting love?
A Beautiful Lie
Tyler Robbins - 2013
Faced with the possibility of being left behind, Jesse vows to care for her young son, though he’s not convinced he can.When Trip Cantrell returns to town, he’s blindsided the instant he’s reunited with his kid brother’s lifelong friend, Jesse. His inability to find happiness in the years he’s been gone, suddenly makes sense. Love’s been waiting at home all along.Life begins to look promising, except for the fact that neither have come out of the closet publicly, and that’s not even their biggest problem. Someone has a secret so shocking they may never find a way past it.Will they be accepted in their small Texas town, or will secrets, lies, and the threat of tragedy destroy everything?
Jaywalking
Rachel Ember - 2020
Maybe there’s something—or someone, missing. But dating is hard enough for vanilla people. Emile doesn’t just have to find someone he wants to date—he has to find someone he wants to kneel for.Jay likes playing soccer, reading poetry, and handsome men in tweed vests. Men like Emile, who Jay can’t forget after they connected on a rainy July night. Their encounter awoke a powerful urge in Jay to take, command, and control that has haunted him ever since. Jay had hoped that starting college would distract him, but that hope died when he showed up for the first day of his literature class and discovered Emile was his professor.When Emile tells Jay they can’t be together, Jay is still determined to figure out a way for the two of them to explore what they share. And Emile craves Jay’s gentle dominance too much to resist him. Jaywalking includes an age gap, a professor-student relationship, BDSM, a very polite dog, explicit sex, and a happy ending.
A Breath Apart
Christina Lee - 2019
Even if it means pretending Josh Daly doesn’t make his heart pound every time their eyes meet. The tension eases once Josh heads off to a Christian University on a baseball scholarship. Brennan stays put in Elm Grove to work at his family’s drive-in movie theater and take classes at the local community college. But when Josh comes home for summer break, the feeling not only returns, it transforms into a loud and commanding drumbeat he struggles to tune out. Finally admitting who he is feels overwhelming. There’s a reason Brennan remains a virgin and when he realizes Josh might be one too, the chemistry between them becomes impossible to ignore. Except acting on his attraction throws everything Josh has been raised to believe out the window. Plagued by fear and self-doubt, they finally surrender, placing their trust in each other and their undeniable connection. But facing the world together takes the sort of faith that will either strengthen their bond…or shatter its very foundation.TW: homophobia
Son of Money
Brandon Witt - 2016
To make ends meet, Randall does erotic photography and massage—a secret he keeps from his family so he can remain a part of his young niece’s life. But the price of that relationship is high, and Randall is once more slipping under his family’s thumb.Noah Carroll is the spokesperson for the Seattle Humane Society, and the city holds a special place in his heart. When fate intervenes during a pet adoption, Noah finds himself face-to-face with his first love—Randall.While Noah and Randall are not the teenagers they once were, the flame of a first kiss long ago draws them together. Their romance is beginning to grow, but someone is out to destroy Randall and expose all he keeps hidden.When secrets and rumors thrust Randall into the public eye, his relationship with Noah isn’t the only thing that comes under threat.
Trailer Trash
Marie Sexton - 2016
Now, instead of spending his senior year in his hometown of Austin, Texas, he’s living with his father in Warren, Wyoming, population 2,833 (and Nate thinks that might be a generous estimate). There’s no swimming pool, no tennis team, no mall—not even any MTV. The entire school’s smaller than his graduating class back home, and in a town where the top teen pastimes are sex and drugs, Nate just doesn’t fit in.Then Nate meets Cody Lawrence. Cody’s dirt-poor, from a broken family, and definitely lives on the wrong side of the tracks. Nate’s dad says Cody’s bad news. The other kids say he’s trash. But Nate knows Cody’s a good kid who’s been dealt a lousy hand. In fact, he’s beginning to think his feelings for Cody go beyond friendship.Admitting he might be gay is hard enough, but between small-town prejudices and the growing AIDS epidemic dominating the headlines, a town like Warren, Wyoming, is no place for two young men to fall in love.
Release
Patrick Ness - 2017
Relationships will change, he’ll change, but maybe, just maybe, he’ll find freedom in the release.Time is running out though, because way across town a ghost as risen from the lake. Searching, yearning, she leaves a trail of destruction in her wake…
The Dangerous Art of Blending In
Angelo Surmelis - 2018
His strict Greek mother refuses to see him as anything but a disappointment. His quiet, workaholic father is a staunch believer in avoiding any kind of conflict. And his best friend Henry has somehow become distractingly attractive over the summer. Tired, isolated, scared—Evan’s only escape is drawing in an abandoned church that feels as lonely as he is. And, yes, he kissed one guy over the summer. But it’s his best friend Henry who’s now proving to be irresistible. It’s Henry who suddenly seems interested in being more than friends. And it’s Henry who makes him believe that he’s more than his mother’s harsh words and terrifying abuse. But as things with Henry heat up, and his mother’s abuse escalates, Evan has to decide how to find his voice in a world where he has survived so long by avoiding attention at all costs.
Burro Hills
Julia Lynn Rubin - 2018
He hides the truth about his sexuality from everyone, including his best friend Jess and his childhood rival and drug dealing partner, Toby. Keeping your head down, Jack knows, is the best way to survive.But when Connor, a fearless new arrival, enrolls at school, he sees right through Jack’s façade. Jack finds himself falling for Connor, and the feeling is mutual―but their relationship will set into a motion a series of events with lasting consequences. After a falling out with Jess, Jack is worried to see her growing close to the manipulative Toby. To make matters worse, Jack is becoming increasingly paranoid that Toby will expose his relationship with Connor.As tensions rise and more secrets come to a head, Jack cuts off ties with Toby. Hungry for revenge, Toby comes after Jack, jeopardizing his budding romance with Connor and the life he’s tried so hard to salvage in Burro Hills.
After the Scrum
Dahlia Donovan - 2016
Now raising his young nephew, he seeks a quieter place away from the paparazzi and all the vices of his old life. Lust and love in the form of an eccentric man weren’t even on his horizon.Yet.Francis Keen talks to his dog and his car. In his experience, people are less predictable and safe. His crippling anxiety keeps him anchored to his grandmother’s home. He wonders if he’ll ever find the courage to live—and to love.
Two men, so different, on track for a romantic collision... can they survive the impact?
“Let me start by saying that I loved this story - and all of its quirky, thoughtfully written characters. It's sweet, sexy, poignant - and, overall, one of the most unique M/M romance novels I've read.” ~Passionate ReadsRead the novel that inspired the bestselling series The Sin Bin.