Book picks similar to
Without Sin by J. Tomas
m-m
ya
young-adult
contemporary
Remember My Name
Chase Potter - 2015
For Jackson Roanoke, the greatest consequence of his parents’ divorce was watching his mother drive away with his twin brother Ben, putting thousands of miles between them. Eight years later and with college looming, Jackson is tasked with reroofing his father’s house. After a tempting offer of help from a young man, Jackson finds himself caught up in a growing attraction he’s hesitant to embrace. But when his brother Ben reappears at the front door, Jackson is confronted by more than he’s prepared for. Brought together by circumstance, the estranged brothers are forced to navigate a relationship that persists only in their memories. Marked by the heat of a Midwest summer and rolling wheat fields, the short months are punctuated by scattered moments of closeness between the two brothers, hinting at the possibility of rekindling the connection they once shared.
Perception
Mario Kai Lipinski - 2012
He is the bullying victim of Tim ‘Dumb’ Eschner, soccer hunk and the school’s official dimwit.When the vice principal witnesses one of Tim’s assaults, Marcel’s problems seem to be solved at last. But his good nature and his fast tongue get him into more trouble than he would prefer.Forced to work together, they both discover that there is more to the other one than meets the eye.A feel-good story about change, forgiveness, and love.This romance novel contains graphic language and descriptions of sexual encounters (m/m).Word count (story only): approx. 74.200
A Summer Place
Ariel Tachna - 2007
Despite his secrets, he had grown comfortable in the peaceful little island town, getting to know its inhabitants and even to consider some of them friends. The eleventh year, however, he arrived to startling news: the island's peace had been shattered by a murder. At the request of the sheriff, Shawn Parnell, Nicolas agreed to hire Philip Hall, the local blacksmith and the probable next victim, in the hope that the secure construction site would be safer than his house in the village. He never expected the decision to lead to danger. Or to love.
Commitment Issues
Bradley Brady - 2017
Is it really possible to fast track a relationship to the commitment stage? Avoid all the drama of dating? There's only one way to find out. And what will their friends and family think of this instant romance? Mel, the happy matchmaker with a marriage gone stale? Sally, Evan's younger sister, whose long engagement shows no signs of ending? Will Evan and Scott live happily ever after, or is love at first sight only a fairy tale...
Strings Attached
Nick Nolan - 2001
Closeted teenager Jeremy is sent to live with wealthy relatives after his mother enters rehab. Struggling to fit into the posh world of Ballena Beach, Jeremy joins the high school swim team, dates a popular girl, and begins to think he may have landed in paradise - until his great aunt Katharine starts to dictate his every move and a late-night phone call insinuates that his father's accidental death was not so accidental after all.As Jeremy grows accustomed to the veneer of a fabulous life, so grows his need for answers - as well as the danger of immeasurable harm. Weaving together a murder mystery, sexual ambiguity, and characters with hidden identities and agendas, Nick Nolan offers listeners a deliciously witty novel about the "puppet" who wishes only to be a real boy. Strings Attached is also a surprisingly heartfelt story about coming-of-age and coming out - not necessarily in that order.
Daron's Guitar Chronicles: Volume One
Cecilia Tan - 2010
Coming out and coming of age in the days of AIDS, MTV, Reaganomics, and Just Say No. Daron Marks is a young guitar player with a dream, make it big like the guys he grew up idolizing in New Jersey--or at least escape his dysfunctional family. He makes it as far as music school in Rhode Island, and the stages of Boston beckon. But it's hard to succeed from the closet.
The Coming Storm
Paul Russell - 1999
Russell's award-winning novel is the story of four interlocking lives - Louis Tremper, the headmaster at the Forge School; his wife Claire; Tracey Parker, a 25-year old gay man and recently hired teacher at the Forge School; and Noah Lathrop III, a troubled student; all of whom struggle with their own inner demons, desires, and conflicted loyalties. When Tracey and Noah become involved in an illicit relationship, dark incidents from the school's past begin colliding with the current growing confusion that all of them must face. Compelling and poignant, this is the finest work yet from one of the best contemporary American novelists.
Beneath the Surface
Kate Sherwood - 2012
Technically he's a lawyer, but really he's a problemsolver. He just never expected the problem to be Caleb Sinclair, the passionate but introverted artisan carpenter who lives next to the proposed quarry site."Know your enemy." That's Caleb's philosophy. And trying to turn fertile farmland into a gravel pit earns Peter the title of "enemy." Caleb loves that land, and if he has to make peace with his homophobic neighbors to make war on Peter, so be it. Except knowing his enemy doesn't turn out anything like he expected. Peter's not the fairy-tale monster-he just might be the first step to happy ever after.
Last of the Summer Tomatoes
Sherrie Henry - 2013
But instead of being sent to a juvenile detention center like he expected, he is given a chance to commute his sentence by working on a farm for the summer. Enter Sam, son of the farm owners, who shows Kyle what he feels is perfectly normal and that he doesn’t have to hide from his feelings. In turn, Sam’s parents show Kyle that his abusive stepfather and battered mother are not the norm. With their love and support, Kyle finds his place in the world—by Sam’s side.
Pins
Jim Provenzano - 1999
Set in Little Falls, New Jersey in 1993, PINS weaves the classic story of a Catholic saint into a compelling modern life -and near-death- account of Joey Nicci, a fifteen-year-old Italian-American wrestler. After befriending Donald "Dink" Kohrs, Joey and his new posse get involved in pranks and partying that eventually get out of control, resulting in the death of a maligned fellow teammate. The ensuing legal battle and media frenzy alter Joey's life and his self- perception as a gay teenager while shattering his fragile love for fellow teammate Dink. Like his patron saint, his battle against his own teammates forces him to suffer for his beliefs. His survival becomes a literary miracle. A compelling story of a loving yet confused family, coaches and teachers struggling with multiple issues of violence and homophobia amid the clan-like world of teenage athletes, PINS brings together elements now frighteningly common in the media; bullying jocks, assaults on weaker students, faculty and families unwittingly allowing such behavior
A Call to Arms
Shiriluna Nott - 2014
With a war brewing in the east and no guarantee of surviving another brutal winter, Gib's life is plagued with uncertainty. To make matters worse, he suddenly finds himself uprooted from his home and drafted into the army. Forced to leave his siblings behind, Gib reports to Silver City, where he enrolls in the legendary Academy of Arden. An outsider and misfit, Gib struggles to fit in among the highborn city folk. His charming candor eventually wins him a handful of friends—an enigmatic mage trainee with a secret, a young girl who has defied tradition by joining the military, and a prince looking to escape his stifling, royal life. But his new-found comrades may not be able to help when Gib alone overhears a traitorous plot—a scheme so horrible that if seen to fruition, all of Arden will suffer for it. It's up to Gib to convince the High Council of Arden to act, to stop the terrible danger before it's too late.
Bleeding Hearts
Josh Aterovis - 1999
Even the most idyllic small town has dangerous currents just under the surface -- like abuse, bigotry and hate. And murder. Killian Kendall is a small-town teen whose whole world is about to be turned upside down. The new kid in school is openly gay and, despite himself, Killian finds himself drawn to him. When the boy is killed in a brutal attack, and Killian is injured in the process, Killian begins to questions everything around him. The police seem eager to write the attack off as a random mugging, but Killian knows better. Unable to ignore the injustice, Killian launches his own investigation, and everyone is a suspect -- even his closest friends. His search turns up hatred in small town America. Before it's over, more people will die, and Killian's life will be on the line again. Bleeding Hearts is the first book in the Killian Kendall Mystery Series.
The Opera House
Hans M. Hirschi - 2013
After the death of his son, his life shattered, Raphael regrets that he didn’t lie about some perfect paradise, and he pushes away everything that once mattered to him—his lover, his job, his reputation as a top architect. Then he meets Brian, a homeless, maybe hopeless kid. A Second Chance Brian’s a street kid. When he disappears, Raphael realizes that he cannot fail another person, and he launches a full-out search. What he finds both breaks his heart and begins to heal it. A Little Magic The price of saving Brian is high, maybe too high. But Raphael is no stranger to sacrifice, and he’ll risk everything to save Brian and reunite with the man Raphael now loves. The question is—How? Like the architecture of the opera house Raphael designs, the steps to regaining his life will depend not just on careful planning, but faith, hope, and maybe just the magic of love.“The Opera House, is a moving and emotional story about about gay men and their children, all struggling with big issues — from leukemia to abandonment, devastating loss to unbridled joy — in a way that’s remarkably touching, sometimes funny, and often unexpected. Remarkable, must-read novel from an emerging master storyteller.” Diane Anderson-Minshall, editor at large, Advocate magazine
The Blue Lawn
William Taylor - 1999
Sixteen-year-old Theo is an outsider, not altogether likable, and not particularly interested in making friends. Initial hostility turns to an unlikely friendship, masking a growing attraction neither boy understands. A powerful novel of relationships, set against the backdrop of a small New Zealand town, exploring the complicated emotions of two young men who don't yet understand what they are feeling and have nowhere to turn for help.
Collide
J.R. Lenk - 2012
Or so it seems to invisible fifteen-year-old Hazard James. But when he falls in with bad apple Jesse Wesley, Hazard is suddenly shoved into the spotlight. Jesse and his friends introduce him to the underworld of teenage life: house parties, hangovers, the advantages of empty homes, and reputation by association. So what if his old friends don't get it? So what if some people love to hate him? Screw gossip and high school's secret rules. There's just something about walking into a room and having all eyes on him when just last year nobody noticed him at all.For a while Hazard basks in the attention, and before he realizes the depth of the waters he's wading, he and Jesse strike up a "friends with benefits" routine. It could be something more, but what self-respecting teenage boy would admit it? Not Jesse—and so not Hazard, either. Not until it's too late. Hazard and Jesse have collided, and Hazard's life will never be the same.