Romance: Achillean

Men like us don't trust easy.

Ugly, oversized, and better with plants than with people, small-town farmer Griffin lives a lonely life. Then Keynes arrives, a beautiful stranger from the city, riding a wave of wealth, glamour, and mystery. He shouldn't be interested in Griff, and yet, he is.

Interested in touching him.

Interested in hurting him.

Interested in... turning up at his job?

When Griff's newfound nemesis takes over his beloved farm, enough is enough. Keynes may be clever, charming, and instantly popular-but he's also fake, vicious, and clearly hiding something. Griff's determined to unravel his secrets and expose the man beneath.

The last thing he expects is for that man to ruin him.

The James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel, AWP Award Series Winner
The Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance Winner
 

It's not easy for anyone to find love, let alone a middle-aged gay man in small-town America. Mike Breck works multiple part-time jobs and bickers constantly with his father, an angry conservative who moved in after Mike's mother died. When he's not working or avoiding his father, Mike burns time on hookup apps, not looking for anything more. Then he meets a local guy, Dave, just as lonely as he is, and starts to think that maybe he doesn't have to be alone. Mike falls hard, and in a moment of intimacy, his pent-up hopes for a relationship rush out, leading him to look more honestly at himself and his future.
 
Winner of the James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel, Ben Grossberg's The Spring before Obergefellis about real guys who have real problems, yet still manage to find connection. Funny, serious, meditative, and hopeful, The Spring before Obergefell is a romance—but not a fairytale.

A timely reimagining of the story of Dionysus-Greek god of ecstasy, revelry, and ruin-and a captivating queer love story for readers of The Song of Achilles and Elektra.

Raised in a Greek legion, Phaidros has been taught to follow his commander's orders at all costs. But when Phaidros rescues a baby from a fire at Thebes's palace, his commander's orders cease to make sense: Phaidros is forced to abandon the blue-eyed boy at a temple, and to keep the baby's existence a total secret.

Years later, struggling with panic attacks and flashbacks, Phaidros is enlisted by the Queen to find her son, Thebes' young crown prince, who has vanished to escape an arranged marriage. The search leads him to a blue-eyed witch named Dionysus, whose guidance is as wise as the events that surround him are strange. In Dionysus's company, Phaidros witnesses sudden outbursts of riots and unrest, and everywhere Dionysus goes, rumors follow about a new god, one sired by Zeus but lost in a fire.

In The Hymn to Dionysus, bestselling author Natasha Pulley transports us to an ancient empire on the edge of ruin to tell an utterly captivating queer love story about a man needing a god to remind him how to be a human.

The year is 1764, and following a glowing recommendation from his last employer, Henry Coffey, vampire, takes on a new personal secretary: young Theophilus Essex.

The man is quite unlike any secretary - or any man, for that matter - that Henry has ever met.

---

'Heart of Stone' is a slowly unfolding period romance between a vampire and his inimitably devoted clerk: lushly depicted in flowing, lovingly appended prose, we follow the slow understanding these two men grasp of one another, and the cross of their two worlds into each other's.

Craving resounding intimacy but with an ever aware of the polite boundaries for their situation, Coffey and Essex perform a slow dance as they grow closer to one another, and find themselves entangled.

"This is a delight." —Publishers Weekly on The Hate Project

A secret crush leads to a not-so-secret romance in this delightful romantic comedy from Kris Ripper

There are three things you need to know about Preston "PK" Harrington the third:
1. He’s a writer, toiling in obscurity as an editorial assistant at a New York City publishing house.
2. He is not a cliché. No, really.
3. He’s been secretly in love with his best friend, Art, since they once drunkenly kissed in college.

When Art moves in with PK following a bad breakup, PK hopes this will be the moment when Art finally sees him as more than a friend. But Art seems to laugh off the very idea of them in a relationship, so PK returns to his writing roots—in fiction, he can say all the things he can’t say out loud.

In his book, PK can be the perfect boyfriend.

Before long, it seems like the whole world has a crush on the fictionalized version of him, including Art, who has no idea that the hot new book everyone's talking about is PK’s story. But when his brilliant plan to win Art over backfires, PK might lose not just his fantasy book boyfriend, but his best friend.

Carina Adores is home to romantic love stories where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.

Also from Kris Ripper:

The Love Study
Book 1: The Love Study
Book 2: The Hate Project
Book 3: The Life Revamp

A classmates-to-friends-to-lovers romance that's equal parts raunchy, heartfelt, queer, and Mexican-American, centered on college football (the REAL football)!

Gabriel Piña knows who he is: a college goalkeeper, a future Liga MX or MLS star, and definitely straight. He’s starting his freshman year with a lot of eyes on him and even more potential, but he’s got this. Nothing will have him straying off the path to greatness.

That is, until his philosophy classmate Vale volunteers to tutor him. Vale, the same guy who Gabi, in a moment of history repeating itself, might’ve kissed very briefly—and only once—just to help him out at a party. Vale, the smart, supportive, compassionate new friend with beautiful brown eyes and a smile that keeps Gabi, for completely inexplicable reasons, constantly in a daydream.

As a friendship blooms and the two spend more and more time together, Gabi finally begins to recognize something about himself: maybe he’s not as straight as he thought he was. But a larger and darker realization lingers. Someone like Gabi—a brown, Mexican futbolista with dreams of playing for El Tri—can’t also be bisexual. He’s seen the way his teammates and community react to queerness in their sport. It would be the exact type of straying off path that destroys his future.

Or, maybe Gabi could be brave enough to embrace all those parts of himself and forge his own path, one that includes a boyfriend and the beautiful game.

A sports romance for those who keep rewatching Bend It Like Beckham and rereading Red, White & Royal Blue and the incredible collection of queer soc—football romances out there, Futbolista follows the first semester of one guy's freshman year of college, navigating who he is, who he’s allowed to be, and who he wants to be.

A hilarious, unputdownable second-chance-romance about the most unlikely, gay roommate mishap. Perfect for fans of Casey McQuiston and Gwen & Art Are Not in Love.

Romance is the last thing on Charlie’s mind.

On his first day at Valentine Academy for Boys, Charlie’s carefully crafted plan to hide his identity as the school’s only trans student is set in motion. Only to be immediately destroyed. Charlie has been assigned the worst roommate in the world (possibly the universe): Jasper Grimes, the boy who broke Charlie’s heart the year before he transitioned.

Except, Jasper doesn’t recognize Charlie.

Who knows how long until Jasper realizes the truth? Charlie has one shot at freedom and a dorm room all to himself, but only if he helps Jasper write love letters on behalf of their fellow students first. No problem. Charlie can help Jasper with some silly letters.

Long nights spent discussing deep romantic feelings with Jasper? Surely, no unintended consequences will arise…

Detective Sergeant Aaron Fowler of the Metropolitan Police doesn’t count himself a gullible man. When he encounters a graphologist who deduces people’s lives and personalities from their handwriting with impossible accuracy, he needs to find out how the trick is done. Even if that involves spending more time with the intriguing, flirtatious Joel Wildsmith than feels quite safe.

Joel’s not an admirer of the police, but DS Fowler has the most irresistible handwriting he’s ever seen. If the policeman’s tests let him spend time unnerving the handsome copper, why not play along?

But when Joel looks at a powerful man's handwriting and sees a murderer, the policeman and the graphologist are plunged into deadly danger. Their enemy will protect himself at any cost--unless the sparring pair can come together to prove his guilt and save each other.

Can my straight friend help me cash in my v-card by my birthday?

In one month, I turn thirty-five with my virginity still intact. Is there anything more embarrassing than knowing most of my French students have gotten more action than me? Je suis triste

When I accidentally reveal this secret to my close friend and co-worker Seamus, South Rock’s baseball coach, he offers to help me round the bases.

It has to be a joke, because Seamus is one million percent straight.

There’s no way he’d want to fool around with a chubby language nerd like me, even though I’ve harbored a secret crush on him since the day he first walked into the teachers lounge.

But then I realize he’s not joking.

I’m either entering thirty-five with a bang…or a friendship going up in flames.

My arch nemesis is my new fake boyfriend. Can you say drama?

I should be a glitter bomb of excitement about my college friends getting married. But all I can think about is running into my uber-successful ex and his new boyfriend at the wedding…while I’m flying painfully solo.

I need a plus one, stat. Enter Raleigh Marshall.

As luck (or misfortune) would have it, a picture of me and South Rock High’s too-blessed-to-be-stressed football coach accidentally finds its way on social media, making people believe we’re an item.

Raleigh is hot, charming, and one of South Rock’s most popular teachers. The problem is that he knows it. He also seems to derive a twisted pleasure from getting under my skin.

Yet once we stop bickering long enough to have a conversation, I have a hard time remembering what I hated about him.

Pretending to be in love with Raleigh Marshall will be my toughest role to date. But…am I still pretending?

(South Rock High)

Today’s experiment: Combine one socially awkward science teacher with two beefy, former students. Mix well.

I love watching chemicals bond, but I avoid the practice myself.

When I’m not teaching, I’m hanging out with my cat and putting together puzzles. I shy away from romantic entanglements because I know firsthand the collateral damage they cause.

Until I bump into Anton and Sebastian: best friends, business partners. and former wrestling superstars at South Rock High who could barely pass my class. Catching up turns into drinking, which turns into dancing, which turns into them practicing wrestling moves on me, sans clothing.

It's clear that the men have a history—and some unresolved feelings between them—but being the piece of meat in their jock sandwich unleashes a wild, confident side in me I can’t ignore.

The other thing I can’t ignore: we’re falling for each other.

With three hearts on the line, I can’t risk destroying their close friendship and burgeoning business, not to mention reliving my own past pain. But is the chemical attraction between us too strong to ignore?

Advanced Chemistry is a teacher/former students, nerd/jock, friends-to-lovers MMM romance filled with humor, heart, and hot guys. Chase, Anton, and Sebastian will put the A-plus in HEA, and like all good students, there’s no cheating. It’s the fourth book in the South Rock High series, which revolves around a found family of nerdy gay high school teachers, but can be read as a standalone.

Derek Osbourne’s life is mostly quiet. A routine that keeps him functioning, a job as a tattoo artist that keeps his rent paid and food in his belly, and if he’s alone through it well, there are worse things to be. With his complicated past, Derek is sure no one would ever want to deal with the struggle that comes along with loving someone who has severe PTSD. Especially since the man who spent years abusing him is now in hospice, and Derek has taken over his end-of-life care. Derek’s resigned himself to living and dying alone, and maybe that’s okay. Then one night, during a raging storm, Derek finds himself stuck in an ATM vestibule with a quiet stranger, and it’s in that moment his world begins to change. Basil Shevach is new to Fairfield, taking over his dead aunt’s florist shop. He’s also Deaf in a small town, where he and his sister are the only ones not hearing. It’s not to say he hates it there, but he’s not sure Fairfield is the place for him. At least, not until one night, when a storm leaves him trapped inside the bank with a man quietly panicking against the glass door. He’s immediately intrigued by this unbelievably attractive stranger with bright tattoos covering his arms and haunted eyes, but he’s also bitter because he’s dated a hearing man before and it ended as badly as it could go for him. He had resolved years ago to never make that mistake again, but somehow, the frightened man trapped with him in that little room, crawls under his skin and no matter what he tries, he can’t seem to shake him.Will the two of them be able to find their way together, or will their pasts prevent them from being able to find happiness and contentment when they need it most?Free Hand is the first book in the Irons and Works series. Each book contains an individual storyline with no cheating and HEA.

By: Anita Kelly (Author), 2021, Paperback

Restless and disillusioned with his life, Aiden McCarstle is ready for a night out at The Moonlight Café with his best friend Penelope: one night to not think about how much he hates grad school, to watch queer people make fools of themselves singing karaoke. A simple, reliable escape.

But when it’s not Penelope who walks through the door at Moonie’s, but the high school nemesis Aiden hasn’t seen in five years—well, things get a little more complicated.

For Kai Andrews, moving back home after his mother’s death has been harder and lonelier than he anticipated. And running into McCarstle again hadn't been in his plans, either. But he deserves a night out, away from responsibilities and grief. Sure, it appears McCarstle still hates his guts, for reasons Kai has never quite understood. But maybe, with a decent dose of pop music and Moonie’s magic, Kai can finally, finally make Aiden smile. Just this once. Just for tonight.

As a surprising, intimate night at Moonie’s brings Aiden and Kai closer together, a winter storm moves in. And what was meant to be a simple night out turns into over 24 hours of being snowed in together. Through confessions, memories, and favorite poems, Aiden and Kai have to figure out if this unexpected second chance at connection was merely a temporary interlude—or if they can each come out better on the other side of the storm.

From the acclaimed author of Chef's Kiss, a groundbreaking trans Regency romance that's both delightfully witty and refreshingly iconoclastic.

“A Gentleman’s Gentleman is a thoroughly charming confection of a romance. If you’re looking for a tender, gentle slow burn, this is the book for you.” —Cat Sebastian, author of We Could Be So Good

The notoriously eccentric Lord Christopher Eden is a “man of unusual make” and even more unusual habits: he prefers to live far from the prying eyes and ears of the ton, and would rather have the comfortable company of his childhood cook and his aged butler than the swarm of servants and hangers-on befitting a man of his station. But Christopher’s pleasant, if occasionally lonely life is upended when he receives word from his lawyers that, according to his late father’s will, he must find a wife by the end of the Season if he intends to keep his family’s fortune and the Eden estate. Christopher cannot imagine a worse fate: as he isn’t attracted to women, his chances of making a wife happy are slim. Furthermore, if his quest to marry has any hope of succeeding, he must move to London posthaste and acquire some more suitable staff.

Enter James Harding, Christopher’s new, distractingly handsome—if rigidly traditional—valet. After a rocky start, the two strike up a fragile friendship amid the throes of the London Season . . . a friendship that threatens to shatter under the looming shadow of Christopher’s impending nuptials—and the secrets both men are keeping. With its heady combination of dry wit, slow-burn romance, and a nuanced portrait of trans identity, A Gentleman’s Gentleman stands to transform the historical romance genre as we know it.

*Now an acclaimed live-action Netflix series!*

Boy meets boy. Boys become friends. Boys fall in love. The bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic novel about life, love, and everything that happens in between: this is the fifth volume of the much-loved HEARTSTOPPER series, featuring gorgeous two-color artwork.

Nick and Charlie are in love. They’ve finally said those three little words, and Charlie has almost persuaded his mum to let him sleep over at Nick’s house. He wants to take their relationship to the next level... but can he find the confidence he needs? And with Nick going off to university next year, is everything about to change?

By Alice Oseman, winner of the YA Book Prize, Heartstopper encompasses all the small moments of Nick and Charlie’s lives that together make up something larger, which speaks to all of us.

Contains discussions around mental health and eating disorders, and sexual references.