Book picks similar to
Frontiers by Michael Jensen
fiction
gay
lgbt
romance
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.
Brethren
W.A. Hoffman - 2006
He doesn't realize that he is going to the right island for the wrong reasons until he meets buccaneers and learns he has far more in common with the wild Brethren of the Coast than he does with the nobility of Christendom. Still, he questions joining them and leaving his title and the plantation behind, until he meets Gaston the Ghoul, a mysterious French buccaneer who is purportedly mad. He quickly decides that the freedom of the buccaneer life and even the mere chance of love that a man such as Gaston might offer are better than anything he could ever inherit. But even though Gaston seems intrigued by him, can the crazy Frenchman ever love him?
Long Winter
Rachel Ember - 2021
Alone, that is, except for his three devious cats, four saddle horses, and the forty-eight mustangs that roam the ranch. Robbie is preparing for yet another snowfall when he gets the last call he expected—a plea to pick up Lance Taylor from the county jail.Lance wasn’t just his little brother’s best friend, he was a part of the family. Then, one night, after Lance asked Robbie for something Robbie couldn’t give, he ran away and never came back. Lance was sixteen and heartbroken when he left his middle-of-nowhere hometown. Six years later, he’s at rock bottom with nowhere else to go, and no one to turn to but Robbie, the man Lance has been inconveniently in love with for most of his life.When Robbie offers Lance a place to stay, Lance expects a guest bedroom and awkward silences. Instead, he finds himself sharing Robbie’s one-room hayloft apartment and its single bed, while realizing that the old flame he carries for Robbie might not be so hopeless, after all.Long Winter is the first book in the Wild Ones series and has a happy-for-now ending. Robbie and Lance’s story continues in Signs of Spring.
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.
Red Dirt Heart Imago
N.R. Walker - 2017
Then Travis remembers seeing butterflies at the creek near their joining fence line - the same butterflies they couldn’t find in any Australian butterfly book. Hopeful this might be their only chance to stop the development, they seek the help of a specialist. Lawson Brighton-Gale receives an email request to identify a butterfly in the Outback, only to discover it’s not an Australian butterfly at all. But that’s not all he discovers. The name on the request is familiar to Jack. An old friend from his university days, who also happened to be his old friend with benefits, Charlie Sutton. Years ago, two out-of-towners met at the University of Sydney. Both studying environmental sciences, both hundreds of miles from home, and both finding their worlds open to new experiences, they fell into bed together. Meeting again after all this time, in front of Lawson and Travis, won’t be awkward at all, right? Lawson and Jack’s trip to Sutton Station certainly doesn’t go to plan, and what they take back to Tasmania isn’t just butterflies, but a cocoon of possibilities. A Red Dirt Heart and Imago crossover ~ The story of when red dirt and butterflies collide. *18,000 words
The Married Man
Edmund White - 2000
Austin Smith is pushing fifty, loveless and drifting, until one day he meets Julien, a much younger, married Frenchman. In the beginning, the lovers' only impediments are the comic clashes of culture, age, and temperament. Before long, however, the past begins to catch up with them. In a desperate quest to save health and happiness, they move from Venice to Key West, from Montreal in the snow to Providence in the rain. But it is amid the bleak, baking sands of the Sahara that their love is pushed to its ultimate crisis.
Gaywyck
Vincent Virga - 1980
Classic in style, Vincent Virga creates a world as authentic as anything penned by DuMaurier, retaining the creaking ancestral mansion and mysterious and brooding master of the manor, while replacing the traditional damsel in distress with the young and handsome Robert Whyte. Vincent Virga has been called "America's foremost picture editor." He has researched, edited, and designed picture sections for more than 150 books, including "Eyes of the Nation: A Visual History of the United States" and the full-length photo essay "The Eighties: Images of America." He is also the author of "A Comfortable Corner." He is working on a third novel, "Theatricals.
Peach Tree Life
Trina Solet - 2018
He was the troublemaker, the one who escaped to Europe when his family couldn't accept who he was. But now that his older brother is gone, Wyatt is the only one who can take care of his two little nephews, DJ and Riley. Is Wyatt up to the daunting task? No one is sure, not even him. It's a big change in his life, but his nephews need him. After losing their parents, the two little boys are heartbroken. Wyatt doesn't want to uproot them so he moves to the small town of Peach Tree. He doesn't expect small town life to be to his liking until he meets Sam, the young guy who works at the cafe in town. They have an immediate connection, and Sam is the sweetest guy. But Sam is prone to panic attacks and he only just escaped his abusive ex. Sam doesn't plan to get involved with anyone until Wyatt comes along. He thinks a real relationship between them is impossible, but Wyatt isn't so easily discouraged. He's a man who knows what he wants, and he's not afraid to go after it. Sam came into his life on the heels of tragedy and that makes Wyatt treasure him all the more. Just when Wyatt is sure to get his way, trouble finds them. With Wyatt by his side, can Sam finally fight back against his fear, or will it wreck everything he found? Gay Romance
A Little Complicated
Kade Boehme - 2013
Brady Novak was kind, responsible and easy on the eyes. Yeah, the guy had a kid but Ryan loved her too. What could go wrong? Well, Ryan's sister Ellie, that's what. Ellie is a flighty, love-em-and-leave-em kinda girl with a big heart who doesn't realize she dated the guy Ryan had fantasized about. But, like all of Ellie's other relationships, this one ended within two months, just in time to send Brady running off to take a job in Phoenix, taking Ryan's heart with him.Ryan never thought he'd see Brady again until eight years later Ryan's sister blindsides him by announcing that not only is Brady back in Atlanta but she'd asked him out on a date. And he'd accepted. As if that wasn't enough to send Ryan on a tailspin, a neighborhood girl brings him face to face with Brady in an unexpected way.Brady can't believe when he sees Ryan again. He assumed Ryan had moved on from Atlanta, like he'd always said he would. But Brady hasn't forgotten his cute, nerdy friend and wants nothing more than to have a chance to try the relationship they never got to have all those years ago, but convincing Ryan that he hadn't slept with Ellie proves difficult. Ryan is still hurt over the way they left things and makes it an uphill battle, but Brady has waited too long. He'll damn well give a good go of trying to get his man and with the help of his precocious teenage daughter and a little help from friends they may just get their Happily Ever After. *2nd Edition, has been re-edited and revised*
Something Borrowed, Something Boo
Shane K. Morton - 2019
Even if it is inconvenient.Danny: I’m still recovering from a breakup that hit me pretty damn hard. Never date your best friend, it doesn’t turn out well. But we have mended our relationship and now I am his best-man at his wedding this Halloween. What’s worse… I must also plan it. I’m saddled with Evan’s (the other grooms) best man, Blake Hudson, who also happens to be his brother and a television star. If he wasn’t so annoying, I would want to kiss him. He may be infuriating but he’s also incredibly hot and too damn nice for my own good. Burying my feelings is just making me angsty.Blake: Being hidden in the Hollywood closet has always made dating a real pain in the ass. Now I’m stuck here in the small town of Point Pleasant helping to plan my brother’s wedding with a man who really doesn’t like me. Its frustrating, because, I am falling head over heels in love with him. How can I get him to see that I’m serious and would change my life if he would just give me a chance? Danny Kincaid is one of the most beautiful and honest people I’ve ever met. How can you fall in love in less than a week? If I can get him to fall in love with me too, what will that mean for my career?
First Impressions
C. Koehler - 2012
Cameron reminds Henry of all he left behind when he stopped making adult films, and he cruelly rejects Cameron. When Cameron discovers Henry's porno-thespian past, he assumes he's dodged a bullet.But circumstances continue to throw the two together. Though the physical attraction between them grows, they cling to first impressions, even as a slow dance reveals just how good they could be.Henry finally realizes how wrong he was, but Cameron can't cope with "sleeping with the enemy". It will take a confrontation for Cameron to realize just how wrong he's been, but unfortunately, he may have lost his chance.
Spring Forward
Rachel Kane - 2020
A handyman with a past full of secrets. And the small town that would change them forever. It should've been a dream come true for Liam, inheriting the old mansion named Superbia Springs. It helped him meet Mason, the handyman who kept the town running. Mason is sweet, generous, and good with his hands. (If only he'd use those hands on Liam...) But Mason has a secret, and the old house has a secret, and the whole town seems full of secrets. Mason knows he can't fall for Liam, no matter how the man makes him burn with passion. Gay single dads are off limits when you're stuck in the closet. Liam hates secrets, and after hearing what happened to Liam's father and his ex, Mason desperately wants to give him his heart...and his whole story. But how can he tell Liam what's really keeping him in the closet, when it could destroy people's lives? Liam knows he should pack up his bags and his baby and head straight back for his home in the city...but something about Superbia draws him back inexorably. Maybe it's the town itself. Maybe it's the mansion, with all its mysteries. Or maybe it's because he can't get Mason out of his mind, out of his dreams, out of his heart. Can the irresistible desire the two men feel for each other overcome the small-town grudges, feuds and scandals that threaten to keep them apart?
Brokeback Mountain
Annie Proulx - 1997
Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist, two ranch hands, come together when they're working as sheepherder and camp tender one summer on a range above the tree line. At first, sharing an isolated tent, the attraction is casual, inevitable, but something deeper catches them that summer. Both men work hard, marry, and have kids because that's what cowboys do. But over the course of many years and frequent separations this relationship becomes the most important thing in their lives, and they do anything they can to preserve it. The New Yorker won the National Magazine Award for Fiction for its publication of "Brokeback Mountain," and the story was included in Prize Stories 1998: The O. Henry Awards. In gorgeous and haunting prose, Proulx limns the difficult, dangerous affair between two cowboys that survives everything but the world's violent intolerance.