Book picks similar to
In My Father's House by E. Lynn Harris


e-lynn-harris
fiction
gay
african-american-fiction

Beach Reading


Mark Abramson - 2008
    On the same night as the dance festival, a infamous evangelist plans to bring his nationwide crusade against gay rights to the Civic Auditorium a few blocks away. Tim Snow finds himself caught in the middle when his activist friends plan a protest. For Tim, the fun-and the intrigue-are about to begin. Beach Reading is equal parts mystery and romantic comedy set in romantic San Francisco with a taste for adventure, a touch of magic.

The Big Summer


Jamie B. Laurie - 2014
    Belittled, ridiculed, and beaten down by his so-called friends, he is pushed to his breaking point. He must make a change. With his quirky aunt Nellie by his side, Will moves to the sunny town of Seaside City, where he embarks on a journey to reinvent himself, discover first love, and maybe find a little bit of happiness along the way. Hannah is Seaside City's resident extrovert-but behind her facade of confidence, she is riddled with insecurities. When she meets Will, Hannah decides to take him under her wing and become his guide. For a girl who desperately needs to be heard and understood, Will just may be exactly the friend she needs. Daniel is Hannah's gorgeous twin brother-the perfect combination of funny, charming, and intelligent. Even though he should be off limits, Will cannot help but fall for him. But will a devious girlfriend and the confusion of sexual identity come between them? The Big Summer is a witty and touching tale that explores the ups and downs of first love, the struggles of self-acceptance, the value of friendship, and the true meaning of happiness."

Down There on a Visit


Christopher Isherwood - 1962
    Tracing many of the same themes as that earlier work, this novel is a bemused, sometimes acid portrait of people caught in private sexual hells of their own making. Its four episodes are connected by four narrators. All are called "Christopher Isherwood, " but each is a different character inhabiting a new setting: Berlin in 1928, the Greek Isles in 1933, London in 1938, and California in 1940. Down There on a Visit is a major work that shows Isherwood at the height of his literary powers.

Nightingale


Aleksandr Voinov - 2015
    As a veteran of France’s doomed defense, a survivor of a prison camp, and a “degenerate,” he knows he’s a target. His comic stage persona disguises a shamed, angry heart and gut-wrenching fear for a sister embedded in the Resistance.Yet Yves ascends the hierarchy of Parisian nightlife to become a star, attracting the attention—and the protection—of the Nazi Oberst Heinrich von Starck. To complicate matters further, young foot soldier Falk Harfner’s naïve adoration of Yves threatens everything he’s worked for. So does Aryan ideologue von Grimmstein, rival to von Starck, who sees something “a bit like a Jew” in Yves.When an ill-chosen quip can mean torture at the hands of the Gestapo, being the acclaimed Nightingale of Paris might cost Yves his music and his life.

Burn It All Down


Nicolas DiDomizio - 2021
    But what did he expect? Joey was born with an addiction to toxic jerks—something he inherited from his lovably messy, wisecracking, Italian-American spitfire of a mom (and best friend): 34-year-old Gia Rossi.When Gia’s latest non-relationship goes up in flames only a day later, the pair’s Bayonne, New Jersey apartment can barely contain their rage. In a misguided attempt at revenge, Joey and Gia inadvertently commit a series of crimes and flee the state, running to the only good man either of them has ever known—Gia’s ex, Marco. As they hide out from the law at Marco’s secluded lake house, Joey and Gia must confront all the bad habits and mistakes they’ve made that have led them to this moment—and find a way to take responsibility for what they’ve done.

Under a Sky of Ash


Brandon Witt - 2016
    When he meets Ben Woods, the mentor of one of his students, the attraction is immediate. The revelations that they’ve both suffered traumatic childhoods form a bond between them. Raised by an abusive grandmother, Ben is a recovering addict who has made a family with his construction worker boss, Hershel, and Hershel’s husband, Daniel—drag queen ManDonna. Adding Isaiah to his life gives Ben a glimpse of a future he’d never dreamed possible for himself. Both Isaiah and Ben are survivors, but when guilt drives a wedge between them, the past threatens to end their relationship. Ben and Isaiah embark on journeys of self-discovery. Though their path will be difficult at times, humor and love find a way to bring light to the darkness.

The Broken Road


Sean Michael - 2006
    They've been through a lot together: homework, broken bones, the death of a parent, and dreading high school dances. Through Ardie working the family farm and taking care of his siblings, and West chasing his college boy dreams, their friendship never falters, even with the gap of years and lifestyles. West goes through a series of boyfriends, making Ardie wish his friend could find someone who loves him as much as Ardie does himself. Waiting for the right time to tell West he's gay, Ardie figures he's lost his chance when West finally meets someone who seems just right for him. When the bottom falls out for West, there's only one person he thinks to call. Ardie is there for him when he does. A little vacation seems to be just the thing, not just to ease West's mind, but for Ardie to slide into West's life again, letting his friend know how much he cares. Will these two best friends ever realize there might be more between them than just friendship? Will their Broken Road lead to happiness, or just more heartache. Poignant and heartfelt, Broken Road will leave you craving more!

Love Starved


Kate Fierro - 2015
    What he doesn’t have is a partner to share it with—a fact that’s never bothered him much. But the romantic in him isn’t entirely dead. When a moment of weakness finds him with a contact to a high-class escort specializing in fulfilling fantasies, Micah asks for only one thing: Show me what it’s like to feel loved.

Shelter


Ashley John - 2015
    His relationship with his family has never been so strained and with no real life of his own, he has nothing to live for. His overachieving twin sister and his ruthless mother's political success as Mayor of Havenmoore has left him empty. Getting high started as an act of rebellion but the addiction soon controlled his every waking moment.Aspiring writer, Caden Walker, thought he had the perfect life until he discovered his boyfriend in bed with his best friend. Leaving everything behind in New York, he returns to Havenmoore to re-evaluate his life from his parent’s guest bedroom. When his mom offers him a job working for the charity she runs, helping people struggling with addiction, he’s not in a position to turn it down.Caden never expected to find what he did, but when he is assigned to work with Elias, a reluctant attraction quickly blossoms into something deeper. Can Elias find in Caden the one thing he’s always searched for or will his addiction drag him under once again? Is Caden ready to let go of his New York dream to take a chance on something unexpected? Both men are faced with difficult times of change, but can they make it through the storm to find the shelter?

Cub


Jeff Mann - 2014
    Some boys are pure country folk and like the feel of flannel and the smell of the farm. And they're neither lithe nor muscle-bound but stocky boys, the ones who develop hairy chests, arms, and faces years earlier than their peers. One such seventeen-year-old is Travis Ferrell, shy among most of the other kids at school, but proud of his West Virginia roots. He has not yet admitted his passion for handsome guys--and his idea of what handsome is and what handsome does is not much different from him. Soon he'll learn that he's not unique; gay culture has a name for young men like him. Cubs. Lambda Literary Award-winning author Jeff Mann has written a touching romance for the outsider in us all.

Opposing Briefs


Ian Finn - 2018
    a straight man?He's my opponent in the courtroom.He defends the same scumbag criminals I'm trying to put away.Plus he's my rival in the New York City Marathon.We're training for a competition between our firms.And, unlike me, he's not even gay.So, why do I find myself so damn attracted to him?His cocky swagger and alpha attitude drive me crazy.But I'm starting to have as much fun running with him as arguing against him.I want to show him what other oral skills I possess.Could there be room in our completely opposite worlds... for each other?AndrewAm I falling for my enemy... a gay man?My whole life, I've done everything right.Now I'm a big time criminal defense attorney.But sometimes everything I'm living seems like a lie.I can't figure out why I'm so attracted to my opposing counsel, Logan.I've never felt such feelings for another man before.He's handsome, athletic and intelligent.I try to tell myself I just want to beat him in court and on the race path.But deep down I know I want him to take me to the bedroom.That would ruin my career, and life as I know it.If I let the real me come out for him, will love destroy us or strengthen us?Opposing Briefs is an opposites attract, enemies to lovers, coming out/ out for you steamy male/male romance. A full length standalone novel of over 50,000 words with no cliffhanger, it combines humor, heat, heart, and a very happy ever after.

Honesty


Seth King - 2010
    Maybe we were meant to explode.”As a closeted teenager in the Deep South with a holy-roller father and the scars to prove it, bookworm Cole Furman has resigned himself to experiencing life and love only within the pages of his favorite novels. But after Nick Flores seems to walk off a page and starts to rewrite his story, Cole finds his dreams spinning into a dazzling – and complicated – reality. If you have ever found yourself on the wild breathless thriller ride that is young love, Honesty will rip you back again in screaming color.

This Is Not the End


Sidney Bell - 2021
    Their sometimes tumultuous marriage has survived ups, downs, and all the in-betweens. With successful careers, a lovely home, and a beautiful child, domestic bliss is a hard-earned reality for two people whose hedonistic days are in the not-so-distant past. They’re happy. Enter Zac’s best friend, the deeply reserved Cal Keller. Zac’s friendship with Cal is the foundation of his career and—until Anya and their son came along—the most important relationship of his life. Cal’s a cipher, someone Anya can’t help but gravitate to, even if they don’t always get along. Even more, she’s drawn to the Zac she sees when he’s with Cal—a careful, cautious version of her husband, someone with hidden thoughts and desires kept secret even from her. Inviting Cal into their home, deeper into their life, is a risk. Zac should say no. He knows he should. But he doesn’t. From the first, the hint at the life the three of them could have together is exhilarating. And finding a new definition for family just might be worth the risk to every bond that exists between them.

Damaged Package


S.A. McAuley - 2014
    He’s been living life by the tips of his fingers for over twenty years, and his new gig organizing a group of misfit military types into a functioning team—including his reluctant ex-fiancée—won’t return him to stable ground anytime soon.Trevor Barrow has been on the move for the last seven years—hitting the road when relationships became too real or too much work. He’s home now, working in the hazardous world of bike messengers in the Motor City, and the only one of his eight siblings who knows he’s returned is his sister Cat. It’s not as if reconnecting with them matters anyway, because it’s likely he’ll be gone again soon.Both men are lugging some heavy baggage, but when they chance upon each other in a dive bar it’s hard to deny their flaws are more like symbiotic quirks. Trevor’s backpedaling instincts and Deacon’s dance-dance party past may just be intersecting at a time when things are about to get explosive in Detroit.

The Worst Best Luck


Brad Vance - 2014
    Taking a co-worker's car into the shop nets him a desperately needed $100 tip...and the attentions of Matt Kensington, master mechanic. Peter can't believe that someone as hot as Matt could be interested in the young man his tormentors used to call "Peter Rabbit." But, incredibly enough, he is. And when the Quadrillions lottery jackpot is up to $700,000,000, wouldn't it be crazy of Peter not to buy a ticket on his lucky day? Matt doesn't think much of money, having grown up on New York's Upper East Side in the lap of luxury. He'd walked away from the professional drudgery his Harvard degree had qualified him for, to become a mechanic, to touch things that were real, to fix things that were broken. And a hot shy guy like Peter is another machine Matt wants to believe he can fix. But when Peter finds out he's won the lottery, it almost feels like his luck has run out. Especially when Cody Burrell, his emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend, mysteriously re-enters his life just before he cashes the ticket and reveals his good fortune to the world... Peter must wrestle with the pressures of wealth on someone who's grown up poor, the pressure of fame that comes with so much instant fortune, and most of all, with his own demons, the demons that Cody knows all too well how to manipulate.