Book picks similar to
First Kiss by Seth King


thought-provoking
bi-racial
drama
first-times

Brash


Eva Leon - 2018
    No one comes here, and no one knows where I am. When Ezra turns up on my doorstep, I suspect he’s a reporter, who doesn’t know when to let a story die. It’s soon obvious he doesn’t remember me as my Hollywood persona, and the fear in his eyes tells me he’s running from demons, the same as me. The difference is, mine are dead, and his are very much alive, and in pursuit. It’s been a long time since I cared about anyone or anything, but Ezra could change that if I let him. Ezra I was sure I was too smart not to recognize an abusive jerk when I met one—so how did I end up the virtual prisoner of my Alpha boyfriend, who turned out to be a drug dealer with a shady past and violent present, who wants to control my future? When I saw him kill someone, I ran, but he’s after me. I don’t know if he wants me back, or if he wants to silence me, but I’ll die before I go back to him. I have nothing left until I stumble across Levi’s cabin where I find hope for survival, and maybe a second chance at happiness with the curmudgeonly man living in terrain as rugged as he is. Brash is a standalone Mpreg romance with a salty Alpha, sweet but scared Omega, and the happily ever after you’re craving.

Seeing Sunrise


Raleigh Ruebins - 2017
    It’s his last summer of freedom before graduating from college, and during his first week in town, he has a sexy hookup in a bar with a hot, mysterious man. The connection is explosive, but afterward, the guy refuses to meet up again. But two days later, Jesse finds out that that same man will be his roommate for the rest of summer… "Is this how you get all the guys?" "Not all the guys act like you." Nathan Stanford is still hurting after his engagement crumbled almost two years ago. He’s fully focused on his work as a photographer, and he’s definitely not looking for a serious relationship. But when he meets the young, intriguing Jesse in a bar, he can’t hold himself back. He never expected to end up living with Jesse for the whole summer. He’s completely afraid of taking things any further, but at the same time, he can’t pull away… “Stay with me. Just for tonight.” Soon, Nathan is pulled into Jesse’s life. He’s forced to photograph a wedding that Jesse is catering, and ends up bringing Jesse on an overnight camping trip soon after. It soon becomes clear that their feelings can’t be ignored, and what they thought was a summer fling could be so much more…. ----- Seeing Sunrise is a 60,000 word steamy, emotional MM romance, with slight May/December themes - HEA ending guaranteed.

The Island: The Reapers (The Cowboy Gangster / The Base crossover series Book 4)


C.J. Bishop - 2021
    

Taking Shelter


Devyn Morgan - 2015
     Jonathon West is a mailman afraid of dogs: he's an office mailroom supervisor, but a childhood attack left him nervous of man's best friend. The office charity committee nominates him to drop off a donation at the animal shelter, an act that takes all his courage. For his pains, openly-gay Jonathon is rewarded by meeting Dylan Pond, the most gorgeous man he's ever laid eyes on. The connection is instant, and Jonathon finds himself drawn back to the animal shelter volunteer's eyes and arms. Since promising himself he wouldn't date bratty young men, Jonathon's been lonely for too long. As Dylan and Jonathon fall for each other, the shelter gets an urgent call. Chemistry isn't enough without commitment. It's time for Jonathon to decide if he can put aside his fears and loneliness to embrace all he's offered. Taking Shelter is a standalone gay romance with a HEA ending.

Kiss Me Like You Mean It


Jacki James - 2019
    Book 1. "When he kisses me, I feel like I’m home. Like I’ve found something I’ve been looking for my entire life.” When a huge investor says his company is interested in funding Clay's latest project he's thrilled. At least he is until he realizes the investor not only believes Clay is gay but wants him to bring his boyfriend along on a Valentine’s Day ski weekend to pitch the project to the rest of the board. When Trevor’s best friend Cassie tells him she can’t find anyone to go on a ski weekend with Valentine’s Inc.‘s newest client he agrees to go. After all, he owes Cassie big time and her job as the matchmaking services branch manager means a lot to her. Plus, it won’t hurt him to pretend to be a straight guys boyfriend for a weekend if it gets him a free ski trip, right? Trevor is the perfect boyfriend, and it isn’t long before the lines between pretend and real blur causing Clay to wonder if maybe he isn’t quite as straight as he always assumed he was. Neither man is sure what is real and what’s for show, but one thing Trevor knows is that when Clay kisses him it doesn’t feel pretend at all; when he kisses him it feels like he means it.

Not Just For Christmas


J.J. Harper - 2021
    Can Otto and Ajax help him find the joy of Christmas again?After tragedy strikes, famous news reporter, Hunter Wiley, flees his London home and his successful career in television. In the hills outside a small Welsh town, he finds his refuge. Building his house helps him grieve, and for two years, he hides from everyone. He’ll be spending another Christmas on his own.Until he finds a puppy, dumped in his woodshed.Otto Markham used to be a player, but not anymore. He longs for a boyfriend, but they aren’t prepared for his long hours as the town vet. He’s resigned himself to being alone.Until he gets a call about a bruised and battered puppy.Not only Ajax heals under the vet’s loving care. Hunter feels safe with the man with the soft Welsh accent and the skilled, kind hands. Otto gives him the strength to let go of the guilt and the courage to move on.The greatest love stories aren’t always easy, but they are the ones worth waiting for.Not Just for Christmas isn’t a story full of tinsel and mistletoe, roaring fires, and sweet kisses. It contains lots of snow, hurt/comfort, a broken news reporter, a hard-working vet, and an adorable puppy with the heart of a warrior.Please read the author’s note at the front of the book for TW.

House in the Hills


Erica Brown - 2019
    Years later, when Catherine's ruthless father, Walter Shellard, reappears, he presumes she's malleable. But Catherine has never forgotten her mother, and never forgiven him for marrying someone else. One day she will have her revenge... A compelling family saga of loss and love perfect for fans of Sharon Maas and Dinah Jefferies

A Paris Secret


Caroline Montague - 2019
    A terrible sacrifice. A second chance... 1952. In the fragile atmosphere of post-war Paris, Sophie Bernot is training as a heart surgeon. A young woman in a man's world, Sophie is determined to bury her past and forge her medical career, whatever the costs.Across the channel, Sebastian Ogilvie is burning with ambition for his first architectural project. As his schemes lead him to France, and to a chance encounter with Sophie, his future seems full of promise.But when Sophie and Sebastian find themselves entangled in a brief, passionate affair, they each face a choice that will change their lives irrevocably, and a secret that will take years to be uncovered... Sweeping from Paris to London, to the snow-capped peaks of the Alps, this is an unforgettable story of passion, heartache and forgiveness. Perfect for fans of Santa Montefiore and Lucinda Riley

The Skin I'm In


Jenny Wood - 2018
    Gage Conner: Police officer, 6'3, 235lbs, green eyes, black hair, and an organ donor. He comes through my line, with his charming smile and massive chest and asks to cash his check. I'm just a bank teller, Briyana Smith- formerly Brian Ashley. With too many loans, no family to speak of, and a massive crush on our local boy in blue; he'd never give me the time of day if he knew ALL there was to know about me. Cosmetically, and socially, I'm Briyana Smith, but, biologically and medically, I'm still Brian Ashley. He doesn't give up, and I just cannot tell.... so, where do we go from there? A liquor store robbery, the death of a parent, and a big ol' dirty secret, just waiting to come out. What could possibly go wrong?. What if it could possibly, go right? I guess you'll have to wait and see.....

Valor's Measure: Based on the heroic Civil War career of Joshua L. Chamberlain


Thomas Wade Oliver - 2013
    From his legendary bayonet charge down the slopes of Little Round Top hill during the Battle of Gettysburg, to the startling calling of Union troops to salute as the defeated Confederate Army surrendered to him at Appomattox, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain redefined the scale of greatness in this country. Wounded six times in battle, twice assumed to be a fatality, the volunteer officer from Maine continued to lead gallantly until the final shot was fired during the Civil War. Valor's Measure tells the death-defying tale of this Medal of Honor hero and captures his spirit as no autobiography can.

Whisper


Tal Bauer - 2018
    On the battlefield, he meets Special Forces Sergeant David Haddad. David - Arab American, Muslim, and gay - becomes the man Kris loves, the man he lives for, and the man he kills for, through the long years of the raging wars.David Haddad thought he'd be an outsider his whole life. Too American for the Middle East, too Arab for America, and too gay to be Muslim. It took Kris to bring the parts of himself together, to make him the man he'd always wanted to be. But the War on Terror wreaks havoc on David's soul, threatening to shatter the fragile peace he's finally found with Kris.When a botched mission rips David from Kris's life, Kris's world falls into ruin and ash. A shell of the man who once loved with the strength to shake both the CIA and the world, he marks time on the edges of his life. The days bleed together, meaningless after losing the love of his life.After being captured, tortured to the edge of his life, and left for dead by his comrades, David doesn't know how much of himself is left. He vanished one day in the tribal belt of Pakistan, and the man who walks out almost a decade later is someone new: Al Dakhil Al-Khorasani.But strange rumblings are whispering through the CIA. Intelligence from multiple sources overseas points to something new. Something deadly, and moving to strike the United States. Intercepts say an army from Khorasan, the land of the dead where the Apocalypse of Islam will rise, is coming.And, at the head of this army, a shadowy figure the US hasn't seen before: Al Dakhil Al-Khorasani.David is coming home.

Measure of Devotion


C. Faron - 2012
    Leaving behind his father's cattle ranch in favor of the posh, gaslit streets of Perdana, Jason is determined to climb the social ladder and forget his country roots. If only his father had gifted him with a more upscale slave.Kale's been a country slave his whole life. All he wants is to keep his head down and live as comfortable an existence as possible. Unfortunately, his dramatic master despises him and makes life difficult at every turn.Humbled by his first breakup, Jason grows to appreciate his ever-faithful slave and soon discovers that Kale is everything he's ever wanted. Now he needs to prove to Kale that his love is genuine.Kale, meanwhile, tries to convince himself that he simply feels the devotion of a slave to his master, but his actions prove what his mind is unwilling to accept: he's falling in love. When Jason's future happiness is in jeopardy, Kale sets himself on a course to make Jason's dreams come true, even if it means facing up to the fact that, for the first time in his life, he loves someone else more than he loves himself.Measure of Devotion is a bittersweet love story set in an alternate world and contains sexual content and adult language.

Rocky Peaks: The Journey Home


E.M. Leya - 2016
    He spent years searching for something he thought was missing, only to find that life outside the small town wasn't everything he expected, and he realized his heart would always belong in Rocky Peaks and to the man he left behind. Coming home from several years in the Army, he can't wait to settle down, and he hopes life will be how it was before he left, especially with his best friend and lover, Travis, but he fears they might have grown apart through the years. When Austin surprises everyone by coming home early, emotions are high, and as the two friends are reunited, he hopes that leaving didn't change things between them, and he can somehow show Travis that after traveling the world, there’s no place like home. This is a standalone novella with a happy-ever-after and no cliff hangers.

The Blind Dragon


Noah Harris - 2019
    A cultural hub where artists, performers (and a few manic depressives) have found their home, or at least, their haven. Konrad According to my benefactor, Clara Anaheim, I’m the most exciting thing that’s about to happen to the art world, and Drake Street. As a dragon shifter, I’m also part of Drake Street’s underground flight, Clara’s very own dragon community of needy outcasts. Being an artist isn’t glamorous. A new guy every other night, attracted to my art and not me. No one to reassure me that my art isn’t as empty as the dozens of wine bottles scattered around my apartment… When Shaeffer arrives at Drake Street, I’m sure he’s just like the others. His eyes light up when he looks at my art, and at me, but I can’t trust it, I’ve been down this road before. Shaeffer On Drake Street, I’ve been able to make myself into something I’ve always dreamed. My past, the old Shaeffer, is all behind me. I don’t have many friends and no family. Here on Drake Street, I’m alone, surrounded by beauty, culture—and him. Modeling isn’t fulfilling, but it pays well and I’m wanted… but not for who I am. I can hide behind this façade easily enough, and I’ll never let anyone close enough to hurt me. But there’s something about Konrad that makes me want to demolish all those walls I’ve spent so much time building. When an accident with a pyrotechnic display leaves Drake Street’s most promising talent blind, Clara calls for the community to rally behind him. But Shaeffer is the only one who volunteers to care for the injured dragon. Can these two wounded souls work together to forget the past? Or will old hurts drive them apart… A Gay Shifter Romance.

Bound in Blue


Spencer Spears - 2016
    After years of falling for men who break his heart, Liam would rather go to bed alone than risk getting hurt again. But when a handsome policeman saves Liam’s life, it’s harder than usual to just walk away. “Is there anything I can do?”“Could you stay with me tonight?” Detective Mike Jeffries is a damaged man, reeling from the death of his partner and lover 8 months ago. After growing up in the projects, he joined the NYPD to make the world a better place; these days, all he can see is what’s wrong with it. But meeting Liam reminds him that some things are worth fighting for. “Part of me wonders if I’m broken, for wanting what I want. But I don’t feel broken when I’m with you.” Something about Liam makes Mike want to protect him, but Mike has secrets he needs to share if he’s going to keep Liam in his life. Liam yearns to surrender to Mike’s strength, but his painful past has taught him to guard his heart. Can they learn to trust the undeniable force between them, or will their fear of falling tear them apart?Bound in Blue is a 45k steamy romance with hurt/comfort themes and light BDSM elements (no sadomasochism). A no cheating, no cliffhanger stand-alone with an HEA ending.