Book picks similar to
The Honey and the Sting by Chris Hunt
historical-fiction
relationship-rom
gay-life-and-experience
history
A Minor Inconvenience
Sarah Granger - 2014
Now his fight against Napoleon is reduced to quiet, lonely days compiling paperwork at Horse Guards headquarters.His evenings are spent dutifully escorting his mother and sister to stifling social engagements, where his lameness renders him an object of pity and distaste. But his orderly, restricted life is thrown into sudden disarray with the arrival of Colonel Theo Lindsay. Theo is everything Hugh is not—a man of physical perfection and easy yet distinguished address. Surprisingly to Hugh, Theo appears to be interested in making his acquaintance. Lindsay turns out to be a most convivial companion, and Hugh finds great pleasure in his company. Their friendship deepens when they become lovers.In spite of himself, Hugh falls desperately in love. But when a French spy is suspected at Horse Guards, Hugh discovers nothing is as it seems…and the paper he shuffles from day to day could be the instrument of his lover’s death. Product WarningsContains gallant English officers in love, dastardly French spies, skintight pantaloons (sometimes on the floor) and gleaming tasseled Hessians.
A Winter's Earl
Annabelle Greene - 2021
I need you. It’s a matter of life-and-death. Infamous poet Sherborne Clarke is a scholar, a lover—but not a father. When he finds a baby abandoned on the steps of his crumbling castle, he knows he must get her to London and an orphanage. It’s the perfect excuse to contact the one person he trusts…the man whose love he stills yearns for, and whose heart he broke years before. Richard Ashbrook was groomed from birth to become the Earl of Portland, until Sherborne betrayed him, exposing his sexuality to the papers and forcing him into exile. But as much as he hates Sherborne, Richard has never managed to break their link or let his confusing sentiments concerning him subside. When he receives a missive implying that Sherborne's life is at risk, he knows it is time to return home. Richard undergoes the perilous journey from Sicily only to find the other man untouched. Furious, he agrees to transport the baby to London—whatever gets him out of Sherborne’s life once and for all. But when a snowstorm leaves them stranded, they’re forced to confront the past—and deal with the love between them that’s all too present.
The Silent War
Victor Pemberton - 1996
Sunday lives for Saturday nights, when she makes the most of her Betty Grable looks at the Athenaeum Dance Hall. But Sunday's recklessly lived life is changed dramatically when, one summer morning in 1944, the laundry receives a direct hit from one of Hitler's V-1s, and she finds she is - and it seems permanently - deaf...
The Charioteer
Mary Renault - 1953
There he befriends the young, bright Andrew, a conscientious objector serving as an orderly. As they find solace and companionship together in the idyllic surroundings of the hospital, their friendship blooms into a discreet, chaste romance. Then one day, Ralph Lanyon, a mentor from Laurie’s schoolboy days, suddenly reappears in Laurie’s life, and draws him into a tight-knit social circle of world-weary gay men. Laurie is forced to choose between the sweet ideals of innocence and the distinct pleasures of experience. Originally published in the United States in 1959, The Charioteer is a bold, unapologetic portrayal of male homosexuality during World War II that stands with Gore Vidal’s The City and the Pillar and Christopher Isherwood’s Berlin Stories as a monumental work in gay literature.
His Client
Ava March - 2011
Stunningly handsome and highly skilled, Jasper not only shares Nate’s fondness for wickedly erotic games and black leather corsets, but he has become a trusted confidant. And Jasper’s the only person who knows Nate longs for a committed relationship with his childhood friend, Peter Edmonton.Unrequited love hurts, but it hurts even more when the object of affection is in love with another. Jasper Reed has been working at Delacroix’s for a decade. He’s saved enough to retire, yet he remains at the decadent London brothel. Leaving would mean leaving Nate and the hope someday the rugged gentleman would stop pining for his best friend and realize he loves Jasper, just as Jasper loves him.Edmonton’s impending marriage looms before them, causing Jasper to take another look at his stubborn heart. Yet Jasper’s a bastard whore, and Nate’s the nephew of a viscount. Surely there can’t be any hope for them… Note: This is a previously published work. This second edition has been edited with minor changes. For readers who purchased the original edition, this second edition is not substantially different.
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.
Cairnaerie
M.K.B. Graham - 2017
Geneva Snow commits the unforgivable Southern sin. No longer the apple of her father’s eye, she is a pariah, defying her society's most sacrosanct rule. To protect her—and hoping for a change of heart—her shattered yet steadfast father hides her at Cairnaerie, his mountain estate. But his iron-willed daughter is unrepentant. After years of solitude, an older and wiser Geneva is finally mellowing, and she is desperate to leave a legacy worthy of the father she loved and lost. To that end, she engages an unwitting young history professor for help to escape Cairnaerie long enough to attend the wedding of her granddaughter—a girl dangerously unaware of her lineage. But when a postman’s malevolence and a colleague’s revenge converge, Geneva's long-kept secret is exposed. For a second time, she faces a calamity of her own making. Only this time, there is no place to hide.
The Tin Box
Kim Fielding - 2013
Conflicted and unable to maintain the charade, he separates from his wife and takes a job as caretaker at a former mental hospital. Jelley’s Valley State Insane Asylum was the largest mental hospital in California for well over a century, but it now stands empty. William thinks the decrepit institution is the perfect place to finish his dissertation and wait for his divorce to become final. In town, William meets Colby Anderson, who minds the local store and post office. Unlike William, Colby is cute, upbeat, and flamboyantly out. Although initially put off by Colby’s mannerisms, William comes to value their new friendship, and even accepts Colby's offer to ease him into the world of gay sex.William’s self-image begins to change when he discovers a tin box, hidden in an asylum wall since the 1940s. It contains letters secretly written by Bill, a patient who was sent to the asylum for being homosexual. The letters hit close to home, and William comes to care about Bill and his fate. With Colby’s help, he hopes the words written seventy years ago will give him courage to be his true self.
The Gentleman's Keeper
Bonnie Dee - 2013
"After years gadding about Europe, Everett Gerard can no longer avoid his responsibilities. Word has come that a child bearing the unmistakable Gerard stamp has shown up at the family estate-and he realizes it's time to face his demons.As his carriage nears the gates of home, he fights the urge to flee the memory of the horrible crime he witnessed as a child. Yet the Abbey delivers surprises and delights he never expected.Miles Kenway was content with his quiet life as the Abbey's bailiff, until the wild child, clearly a bastard son of some Gerard, upends his peace with constant pranks and mischief. And when the master of the house arrives, an unsettling attraction heats Miles's blood.As they clash over the fate of the ancestral land, they battle a powerful desire to grapple in ways that could disrupt the delicate balance between master and servant. But when the boy's real sire appears, they must unite as only true fathers can to protect the boy whose mischievous charm has captured their hearts.Warning: Gothic murder, hot man loving, and emotional family drama
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.
Well Traveled
Margaret Mills - 2010
and in Livingston, Montana, in the lush autumn of 1895, he finds he likes a Lakota Sioux Indian better than he might ought to.Jedediah Buffalo Bird is seriously wounded and seeking medical care, and Gideon helps Jed when some bigoted townsfolk might have done otherwise. Jed, who knows the wild far better than Gideon and feels indebted to him, agrees to repay him by being his guide to San Francisco.Their trip takes them across thousands of wild miles, through the mountains men mine and the Indian reservations dotting the plains. Facing a majestic West, they learn from each other about white folks and Indians alike. Gideon’s interest in Jed is clear from the start, but will Jed give up the life he knows for a young, brash white man he has perhaps come to love? Or will he push Gideon away in favor of the peace of nature and the personal freedom of having nothing to lose?
Nightingale (Crimson Romance)
Sharon Ervin - 2013
Two years younger than Queen Victoria, Jessica is the well-educated daughter of a deceased professor. Sole support of her widowed mother and avoiding an unacceptable marriage prospect, Jessica has secretly collected a flock of cast-off hens, and is supplementing her income hoping to improve her future.Jessica is alarmed when horsemen race headlong through the twilight on the footpath she has inadvertently cut to the henhouse. She stops the charge short of disaster to find the threat is not many horses, but one magnificent, riderless runaway. Ignorant of the dangers in handling an overwrought stallion, Jessica calms the animal. She calls him “Sweetness.”Backtracking, Jessica finds the missing rider, twenty-eight-year-old Devlin Miracle, the arrogant Twelfth Duke of Fornay, badly injured, and waiting for daylight. But, for this aristocrat, there will be no daylight. His injuries have left him blind.Struggling against their disparities, Devlin and Jessica resist, but sometimes love will not be ignored.Sensuality Level: Behind Closed Doors
Honeytrap
Aster Glenn Gray - 2020
There’s just one catch: Gennady’s abusive boss wants him to honeytrap his American partner. Gennady doesn't want to seduce his new American friend for blackmail purposes… but nonetheless, he can’t stop thinking about kissing Daniel.FBI agent Daniel Hawthorne is delighted to get to know an agent from the mysterious Soviet Union… and determined not to repeat his past mistake of becoming romantically involved with a coworker. But soon, Daniel finds himself falling for Gennady. Can their love survive their countries’ enmity?
The Marquess of Gorsewall Manor
Adella J. Harris - 2018
Collapsing from exhaustion on the moors of Yorkshire, he's rescued by the handsome Lord Elmsby and taken to Gorsewall Manor. As he recovers, Lord Elmsby offers him a position cataloging the library. It would be an ideal situation, isolated, with a handsome, solitary lord and servants who don't ask many questions, except for the strange sounds in the corners of the library and the feeling he's being watched. And then a body is found on the moors, a body that could be the long missing fiancee of Lord Elmsby, and Thomas must find out the truth of what happened at Gorsewall Manor. A gay - m/m Regency romance, 82,000 words, print version 315 pages