Book picks similar to
An Unusual Courtship by Katherine Marlowe
historical
romance
mm
historical-fiction
Rhapsody for Piano and Ghost
Z.A. Maxfield - 2011
His mother’s out of town, his piano teachers have backed off, and he gets to spend time at a school where he only has to be adequate for an entire year before all his responsibilities comes crashing back in again. With this freedom comes the realization that he’s lonely, but his first attempt at dating goes horribly awry.Fitz’s new -- but possibly imaginary -- friends, Julian and Serge, want to help him find happiness. His used-to-be-stepbrother Ari Scheffield wants to help him gain confidence and a little much-needed cool. His housekeeper Marguerite wants to keep fowl in the back yard for butchering because duck confit is expensive and she has pillows to re-stuff. And his possible new boyfriend Garrett wants to prove he didn’t mean for their first date to end with Fitz lying unconscious in a dumpster.All Fitz wants is someone who cares about him, and suddenly there seems to be a glut. How’s a shy guy to know what’s real when he’s confronted by crazy ghosts, a less than truthful boyfriend, and relatives with hidden motives? It's a Rhapsody For Piano And Ghost.
Shatterproof
Xen. - 2016
Grey can’t stand to live.Grey Jean-Marcelin wants to die. He thought painting his passion—vivid portrayals of Haitian life and vodou faith—would be enough to anchor him to this world. But it isn’t. And when the mysterious man known only as Saint saves Grey from a suicide attempt, it’s more curse than blessing—until Grey discovers that Saint isn’t just an EMT. He’s a banished fae, and can only survive by draining the lives of those he loves.All Saint needed was a simple bargain: one life willingly given for another. But as Saint’s feelings for Grey grow deeper, centuries of guilt leave him desperate to save a man who doesn’t want salvation, even if Grey’s life means Saint’s death.When Grey’s depression consumes him, only he can decide if living is worth the struggle. Yet his choice may come too late to save his life . . . or Saint’s soul. And whatever choice he makes, it may shatter them both.
The Evolution of Ethan Poe
Robin Reardon - 2011
Things he knows beyond doubt: his parents are divorcing, his older brother Kyle is exhibiting alarming behavior, and his best friend is turning into a spiritual fanatic. Then there are the shifting uncertainties, including his feelings toward his father and his desire to both blend in and stand out in his rural Maine hometown. Most pressing of all, there's his attraction to Max Modine, a boy he wants to know much better than he does.Despite Ethan's initial reluctance, he gets pulled into a heated and sometimes violent conflict about whether to introduce Intelligent Design into science classrooms. Family and friends are turning against each other, school is a battleground, and Ethan will have to take a stand. Because some facts are irrefutable and some bonds unbreakable, even when they can't be seen. And once Ethan finds the courage to become who he was meant to be, the outcome could be absolutely extraordinary...
The Conqueror
Salem Fitzgerald - 2018
A captured druid. Their worlds, their lives, even their languages were different. They were natural enemies, irresistibly drawn to each other.Read content warning in the first pages, please.Also, be advised that outside of the romance, not a whole lot happens.
Concubine
MomsDarkSecret - 2013
Fearful of being overrun, Prince Cray, who is acting as regent for his fourteen-year-old sister, Queen Shian, appeals to their powerful neighbor, the kingdom of Veldi, for military aid. The Veldins agree, but on a condition that places Cray at the mercy of the handsome and charismatic Prince Reston. But is Cray’s sexual compliance the only demand the Veldins intend to place on Shendar?
The Christmas Wager
Jamie Fessenden - 2010
To Thomas's dismay, Barrington Hall is no longer the joyful home he remembers from his childhood, and his young niece has no idea what Christmas is.Determined to bring Christmas back to the gloomy estate, Thomas must confront his tyrannical father, salvage a brother lost in his own misery, and attempt to fight off his father’s machinations. As the holidays near, Thomas and Andrew begin to realize they are more than merely close friends... and those feelings are not only a threat to their social positions but, in Victorian England, to their lives as well.
Lock & West
Alexander C. Eberhart - 2019
He can’t make eye contact, counts when he’s nervous and has to remind himself several times a day how ‘normal’ teens behave. Homeschooled most of his life, he’s resigned himself to a friendless existence at his new Atlanta high school. Until he meets West. List Of Reasons Why My Life Is A Mess: How Much Time Do You Have? West has everything. Looks. Talent. Money. And secrets… so many secrets. Beneath the surface of West’s perfect existence is a pain he’s buried so deep a million therapists couldn’t unearth it and he’s determined to keep it that way. He’s an actor. He can act normal. But then there’s Lock. Sometimes Two Wrongs Can Be Right They don’t fit. Their lives are equal but opposite disasters and the universe just keeps throwing obstacles in their path. Every time they are together they find it harder to say goodbye, harder to keep their secrets, harder not to lean on each other. But for this relationship to have a fighting chance, the two must stop trying to re-write the past and start figuring out how to build a future… together. Warning: This book deals with content which some readers may find disturbing such as eating disorders, past sexual abuse and post traumatic stress disorder.
Scardust
Suzanne van Rooyen - 2016
Desperate to leave a life of bad memories behind and start over in the Martian colony, Raleigh fully intends to keep that promise. But his plans are thwarted when a meteor near-misses him in the desert, and Raleigh finds in its crater not debris or even a spacecraft, but a man covered in swirling scars and with no memory of who he is. At least he looks like a man—a man Raleigh can’t seem to keep his eyes off of—but whenever they touch it ignites a memory swap between them.Raleigh agrees to help Meteor Man piece together his life through their cosmic connection. But the memory share goes both ways, and Raleigh becomes inexplicably entangled with a guy who is everything he needs—everything good that Raleigh is not—but might not even be human. As their minds and worlds collide, reality unravels and Raleigh must face a painful truth, one that could shatter his dreams of finding love, reaching Mars, and fulfilling his brother’s last wish.
The Court of Lightning
Amy Rae Durreson - 2014
Beseiged and fighting for their existence, they have one advantage--the mechanical wings which allow the spies of their Shadowguard to fly into enemy territory to sabotage the enemy. Inventor Shan is the Shadowguard's chief mechanic, but he has never crossed the channel into snowbound enemy territory. Stoic Tirellian, last paladin of the lost Court of Lightning, is the Shadowguard's champion and Shan's dearest friend. When a change in enemy tactics and a prophecy compels both men on a quest to reach Tirellian's sister, the Queen of Lightning, where she is still frozen to her lost throne, they must travel together through the treacherous snowscape of the frozen realm. But their path is dangerous, from the suspicion of the locals to the dark threat of the blighted Ice Knights, whose very touch is deadly. And Shan's heart, too, is at threat as the journey forces him into close proximity with the friend who has never noticed just how much Shan loves him. This book was originally part of the Love's Landscapes challenge by the M/M Romance Group on Goodreads.
Seventh
Rachel White - 2015
He has spent most of a decade investigating the disappearance of the Seventh Dragoons, content to immerse himself in the frustrating search and the book he is writing about it.When his sister comes to him about a handsome man eager to meet him, Hynd can scarcely believe his luck, unable to recall the last time somebody wanted to be near him and did not fear or revile him for his illness.But Julius has come only to see Hynd's research, hoping to learn what happened to the Seventh and prove that his great-grandfather was not a traitor. And while an assistant in his research is not what Hynd had hoped for, it's better than nothing. And maybe between the two of them the mystery of the Seventh can at last be put to rest…
His Royal Secret
Lilah Pace - 2016
But he's keeping a king-sized secret...James, next in line for the throne, is gay.He’s been able to hide his sexual orientation with the help of his best friend and beard, Lady Cassandra. Sometimes he feels like a coward for not coming out, but he daren’t risk losing the crown. If he did, the succession would fall on his deeply troubled younger sister, Princess Amelia. To protect her, James is willing to live a lie.While on holiday, he meets Benjamin Dahan—a rugged international reporter with a globe-trotting, unattached life—who catches far more than James's eye. And when Ben is transferred to London, it seems fate may finally be smiling on James.But what began as a torrid fling grows into something far more intimate and powerful. Soon James will have to decide who he is, what he wants from life and love, and what he’s willing to sacrifice for the truth...
Roommate Arrangement
Saxon James - 2022
And ditch the gray sweatpants. And not leave his door ajar when he’s in compromising positions ...Beau:In search of: roommate.Must be non smoker and non douchebag.Room payment to be made in meal planning, repairs, and dumb jokes.Since my career took off, I barely have time to breathe, let alone keep my life in order. I’m naturally chaotic, make terrible decisions, and scare off potential dates with my “weirdness”.So when Payne gets back into town and needs somewhere to stay, I offer him my spare room with one condition: while he’s staying with me, I need him to help me become date-able.And while he does that, I can focus on my other plan: ignoring that Payne is the only man I’ve ever wanted to date.
The Novelty Maker
Sasha L. Miller - 2013
Overwhelmed with work, and preferring to avoid people, Harlowe is not an easy person to know, and Cole values too much their hard-won friendship to ever risk it by telling Harlowe of his true feelings. Then Harlowe begins to receive letters from a secret admirer …
Trapped
Ruby Moone - 2017
Trapped in Dante’s, the high-class London brothel catering to men who love men, his only hope is to find a rich protector. Then he meets the young aristocrat with sad eyes.Tristan Barrington, sixth earl of Chiltern, waited until the death of his father before acting on his unnatural desires. Dante’s has a reputation for quality and absolute discretion. He never expected to find in its sordid depths a glorious man who could master not only his body but his heart, as well.In Tristan, Sam sees an opportunity to flee a life he hates, and he sets his sights on seducing the earl. Tristan vows to help him escape, but in the process not only uncovers the vile corruption at the heart of Dante’s but also suspects that Sam’s declaration of love was nothing but a lie.Then Sam is gravely injured, and Tristan faces a tough decision -- leave Sam to his fate, or help him once again?Contains the short story The Wrong Kind of Angel. It's Christmas 1817, and Captain Charles Farrington has accepted that he is destined to live alone. Then Harry Valentine crashes into his life. Harry is a man with secrets, on the run with no time to fall for the angel who rescued him. Charlie knows he's the wrong kind of angel for happy endings, but ...
A Marvellous Light
Freya Marske - 2021
Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies.
Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.