Book picks similar to
Passing Stranger by Louisa Keller
m-m
age-gap
mm
mm-romance
The Sweetest Thing
E.M. Denning - 2019
James
has led a complicated life. He was once on the fast track to a career in professional sports but turned his back on a promising future to barge out of the closet in the most dramatic way possible. Now, he’s a hairdresser with a love of feminine fabrics, and a crush on his brother’s best friend, Nathan.
Nathan Blackburn
is fleeing his over-protective mother. He’s glad to be back in the town he grew up in, even if he’s there to fix up his aging grandfather’s house. While visiting, he uses a hook up app and falls into bed with an alluring stranger. Only, the man he shares an incredible night with isn’t a stranger… it’s Scotty. Despite the short-lived deception, Scotty and Nathan can’t stay away from each other. Fighting through family friction, personal responsibilities, and a limit on Nathan’s stay, their relationship turns into the sweetest thing either of them has ever known. With the clock running out and commitments rearing their head, Nathan will have to decide between fulfilling obligations, or following his heart.
Breakaway
Charlie Novak - 2019
He’s talented, devoted, and on the road to glory. He’s following the path that’s been laid out for him since he was four, and he has no plans to deviate from it. Christian’s life revolves around a single goal—to be the best… until he runs into his first love and former best friend, David. David Cade is just trying to survive the final year of his PhD intact, while battling long hours, unmotivated students, and the idea that academia might not be for him. But a chance encounter with his first love’s twin sister changes everything, and suddenly David is faced with the realisation that he can’t leave the past behind.When David and Christian are drawn back together, sparks fly. Soon, Christian is forced to confront his deepest insecurities. Can they break away from their fears for a second chance at true love?Breakaway is a 79,000 word contemporary gay romance featuring light angst, glittery bath bombs, a ginger-haired roommate/pet, shared Star Wars love, and a meddling twin sister.It is book one in the Off the Pitch series and can be read as a stand alone.
Picking Up the Pieces
Annabella Michaels - 2019
Partners on the force for years, Paul Donovan was all Brody had. Paul accepted Brody as he was—standoffish from a childhood in the foster system, bisexual in a police force that wasn’t entirely welcoming, Brody is now adrift. Wracked by survivor’s guilt and grief, Brody devotes what’s left of his heart to help Paul’s widow and her children. And when his partner’s oldest child returns home a grown man, Brody is torn between what he thinks he should do and what his heart wants. Grief Binds Them Cooper Donovan is in his senior year of college when the unthinkable happens. His father dies, and Cooper returns home to be with his family, and help his mother with his little sisters. So many things were left unsaid between Cooper and his father, a fact that weighs heavily on his heart. College helped Cooper learn more about who he was and what he wanted from life, and with Brody Murphy comes unexpected feelings and complications. Hope Leads Them Home Brody and Cooper forge a connection that leaves Brody conflicted, Cooper determined, and both men wounded by their shared grief. While Brody struggles with why he lived, and Paul died—he had no one and nothing, and Paul had everything to live for, Cooper sees a man who deserves love and happiness under the grief. Tension rises when Brody and Cooper can’t deny what’s happening between them. Both men are picking up the pieces of their previous lives and putting together a new future, one where hope and love heals, and home is in each other’s arms.
Black Sheep
Kay Simone - 2019
After relapses, detoxes, and even jail time, Otto found the stability and sobriety he was looking for halfway across the country with a new identity.But when Otto gets word that his father is terminally ill and his mother and brother are struggling to keep the family inn afloat, he knows that it’s time to swallow his pride and go home.Even if he hasn’t talked to his family in almost two decades. *** When Cheshire-native Reese left his foster family to find his passion in New York City, he imagined he was saying goodbye to Cheshire forever. But Reese was never cut out for New York. The city chewed him up and spat him out, and Reese was forced to return home where his best friend still resented Reese for leaving.
“You left me just like Otto. Everyone leaves...”
Now it’s been two years since he’s been back, and Reese runs Cheshire’s only general store. He’s painstakingly mended his friendship with his best friend, and even after the recent death of his foster father, Reese almost feels like part of a family again. Reese feels like he’s finally got his life under control. Then his best friend’s brother walks into Reese’s bar. *** Nineteen years ago, Reese and Otto were as good as brothers. But now, they have more catching up to do than either of them realized. After a chance encounter in which neither man recognizes the other, the two must navigate the wreckage of a struggling family, a brother who can’t forgive, and the reality of life in an isolated town in the mountains.
Black Sheep is the first book in the three-book series, My Best Friend’s Brother. It has a happy-for-now ending, but is NOT self-contained. This slow burn starts out with a bang and delivers content meant for adult audiences. Black Sheep contains frank discussions about drug use and recovery.
Cowboy Seeks Husband
Leta Blake - 2019
To get the money, his family schemes to make Walker the star of a new bachelor reality series: Queer Seeks Spouse. How hard can it be to fake interest in a dozen handsome men for a few weeks in exchange for enough money to solve all of their problems? Roan Carmichael never got his Masters degree after his mother was diagnosed with cancer. With medical bills piling up, and a costly experimental treatment available, Roan signs on to be a suitor on Queer Seeks Spouse. While he hates having to leave his sick mother long enough to win the cash for her treatment, he's willing to do whatever it takes. Can two men who are just in it for the money fake their way into real and lasting love? Cowboy Seeks Husband, the latest book by Vespertine authors Leta Blake and Indra Vaughn, features a cowboy, a hipster, opposites attract, steamy scenes, and heart tugging moments that will leave you wanting more.
Second Wind
Aimee Nicole Walker - 2018
After an amicable divorce, Lincoln Huxley is ready to embrace the sexuality he repressed for more than two decades. Rush Holden is no longer willing to settle for closeted men or those who don’t share his dreams of marriage and fatherhood. A chance encounter on a lakeside pier is the second wind they both need. Or will it just be a painful reminder of all they had lost? Second chance: an opportunity to try something again that failed one time. Rush and Lincoln have shared a lot of firsts—friendship, young love, and heartbreak. Cruel reality forced the two men to choose paths that took their lives in different directions. Twenty-six years later, they get a second chance to fall in love with each all over again. Can it really be that simple, or will the same issues ruin their happiness a second time? Happily ever after: to live happily for the rest of one’s life. Rush and Lincoln know that love and life can’t be defined by words alone. Patience, commitment, and the determination to do whatever it takes will be the only way the two men achieve their happily ever after. Second Wind is a funny, sexy, and endearing standalone romance novel about love, loss, and rediscovery. It contains sexually explicit material and is intended for adults 18 and older.
After The Fall
Sarah Goodwin - 2012
His wife is a stranger, his dead parents just a photograph, and his home an unfamiliar, shabby place that smells of dog.At a local support group for amnesiacs, Connor meets Nate, a fellow sufferer of retrograde amnesia. Nate has no memory, and no idea how he came to lose it, but he remains easy going, and Connor quickly considers the foulmouthed, chain-smoking Nate a friend. But, when Nate makes a pass at him, Connor starts to question everything he’s learnt about himself. Is he really a happily married 32 year old, or are secrets being kept from him?Who is the mysterious ‘Coop’ whose cryptic emails are still in his inbox? And why, on the day of his accident, was he driving with another man in his car? A man whose life, and death, are still a touchy subject at home.
Socks for an Otter
Posy Roberts - 2019
As a sign of goodwill, Louis offers to cook for him. But all Sebastian sees is the privilege he used to have.This isn’t a fairytale. Louis isn’t Prince Charming. And Sebastian can make it on his own.But it’s been days since he’s had a hot meal. And a blizzard is coming.Will Sebastian’s pride be his appetizer? Socks for an Otter is a heartwarming riches-to-rags MM romance brewed with hurt, comfort, comedy, a second chance at love, age gap, and men from different worlds who will give you all the feels.
If I Could
B. Celeste - 2020
I never considered myself a selfish man until I met Lawrence “Ren” McKinley.When pro baseball’s “would have been” becomes Exeter High’s newest coach, it takes one look of those flirty brown eyes and cocky smile before everything changes.I thought I knew exactly what I wanted out of life until he walked into it.Now, the only thing I know for sure is that I don’t want Lawrence McKinley to pay attention to anybody but me.*If I Could is an M/M standalone romance featuring two characters from previous books
His Cocky Valet
Cole McCade - 2018
At twenty-three years old, he's suddenly the head of a multibillion dollar global corporation he is in no way equipped to run. His father is dying. His mother's run away. He's spent his entire adult life playing fast and loose with his life and his loves, but when he's dragged into a position of responsibility with the fate of the company on his shoulders, he goes spinning into freefall. And Brand Forsythe is the only man to catch him. Icy, detached, nearly twice Ash's age, the massive monolith of a British valet is impossible to deal with and like no servant Ash has ever met. Domineering and controlling, Brand quickly puts Ash's life in order. And quickly takes Ash in hand. Even if by day Ash has to project authority, leadership, and calm...by night he's discovering the breathless pleasure of giving up control. The shivering thrill of surrendering to Brand. The sweet taboo of being submissive to the man in even the smallest things. Ash can't quite understand why it feels so good to put himself in Brand Forsythe's capable, commanding hands. He only knows, as he faces the hardest decisions of his life...the only thing that can save him is the love of his cocky valet. Author's Note: If you're reading this, you likely know why this book exists. Bask in the petty, my darlings. Bask.
Long Haul
Harper Logan - 2017
His time in the Middle East is never far from his mind, not because of the war itself, but because of a man he shouldn’t have been in love with. He never thought he’d see him again, but when a contract takes Adrian through his lover-in-arm’s hometown, he knows he needs see him—even if it means getting his heart broken again.Chandler Longman joined the army to get away from his podunk town, but without any direction, he finds himself back where he started. Now he’s struggling to support his gifted four-year-old daughter, unable to provide her with the education she deserves. He’s trapped, and without a hope—until the winds of fate blow Adrian back into his life.They’d agreed to leave the romance they’d shared overseas. After all, two straight men weren’t supposed to fall in love. But the moment they set eyes on each other again solidifies what they both knew in their hearts: There was no escaping the force of their love.
You're Welcome. Love, Your Cat
Clancy Nacht - 2013
Edwin Blais—a University of Texas history professor—vows celibacy. With only his dead lover’s cat for company, he spends the next eleven years alone before the Maine Coon, Francesca, escapes from her cat sitter while Edwin is at work. The loss shatters Edwin. Desperate, he plasters the neighborhood with Lost Cat signs offering five thousand dollars for her return. A few blocks away at a body shop, Nasty, an old black Tom cat, adopts Francesca. Forrest James, owner of the shop and Nasty, refuses the reward and strikes up a friendship with Edwin. While Forrest seems like a safe crush for a celibate man because he certainly appears straight, after a couple of drinks he gets a little handsy. After Edwin meets Forrest’s ex-boyfriend, he realizes that his crush may be a relationship and he’s not sure he’s ready for it. Will Edwin get over himself and his lost love before the dreamboat mechanic moves on? This story is 60k words of pet matchmaking May/December romance that features classic cars and a slow burn Republished from the original title.
The Proof Is the Way It Hurts
E.S. Carter - 2017
One got left behind. One went off to war. He came back a man. A broken, lonely, desperate man searching for the one thing to ease his pain. Can Dylan forgive George for leaving him? Can love snuff out the pain? The Proof Is the Way It Hurts. *This is a standalone M/M novella. A shorter version of this story was featured as a KU Korner's Bedtime Story*
His Kind of Love
Kate Hawthorne - 2018
Nineteen years old, estranged from his family and seemingly unable to ever get a second date, he's surrounded himself with the things he loved most: old books and old music. When one date got out of hand before it even began, Joel found himself displaced from a flooded apartment and on the doorstep of a handsome and older stranger, more than willing to take Joel in for the night. Gabriel Hunter had waited years for the right man. When a distressed Joel showed up at his door needing a place to stay, it was more perfect than Gabriel could ever have hoped for. He quickly found himself falling for the complex and beautiful boy he welcomed into his house, and started to believe in a future with the young man he adoringly called, Little Red. Unfortunately, Gabriel was a man of many secrets, and they threatened to unravel the delicate relationship he was building with Joel. Would Joel be able to see beyond Gabriel's deliberate omissions and give their love a chance, or would Gabriel's kind of love prove to be more than Joel could handle?
Trust the Connection
Brigham Vaughn - 2016
Minor updates have been made but the story is essentially unchanged. This is a re-release. --- Scars run deep but run loves even deeper. --- After a lifetime of being told he’s worthless, Evan Harris is forced out of the closet and the only home he’s ever known. Jobless and homeless, he makes a desperate call to a couple he barely knows. They give him a place to stay at their place in Atlanta while he gets back on his feet. But he’s too shy to explore the big city and go after what he wants: a relationship. Physically and emotionally scarred from a devastating car accident, Jeremy Lewis struggles to reconcile the brash, outgoing man he used to be with the social recluse he’s become. He’s resigned himself to being alone, but an encounter with an ex-boyfriend shakes up his dull existence and brings Evan into his life. Loneliness draws Evan and Jeremy to each other, but a strong mutual attraction isn’t enough. At thirty-six, Jeremy is convinced a relationship would be holding twenty-one-year-old Evan back. Evan must be strong enough to fight for what he wants and Jeremy must let someone close enough to see his scars. Otherwise, they’ll miss out on the love of a lifetime.