Here are 100 books that The Slave fans have personally recommended if you like
The Slave.
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As part of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, I know firsthand what it is to be othered, and I grew up desperately wanting to read about and watch characters like me in books and movies. Now that I’ve found a genre of books that celebrates LGBTQ+ lives, I can’t help but want to read and write the stories I’ve always wanted to see and experience in the world of fiction and romance. Everyone deserves love, and I want to share that love with as many people as I can.
This book is an unconventional romance, but it is a sweeping one, with language that made me swoon and a love story that gave me reason to hope again. The main character, Vin, was a mystery I needed to solve. King Perry is the first in a book series that has opened my heart in ways I didn’t even know my heart needed opening. It’s a beautiful book (and series) that has the potential to change the way you look at life. Yes, it’s that good.
In a trendy San Francisco art gallery, out-of-towner Vin Vanbly witnesses an act of compassion that compels him to make investment banker Perry Mangin a mysterious offer: in exchange for a weekend of complete submission, Vin will restore Perry’s “kingship” and transform him into the man he was always meant to be.
Despite intense reservations, Perry agrees, setting in motion a chain of events that will test the limits of his body, seduce his senses, and fray his every nerve, (perhaps occasionally breaking the law) while Vin guides him toward his destiny as 'the one true king.'
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
As part of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, I know firsthand what it is to be othered, and I grew up desperately wanting to read about and watch characters like me in books and movies. Now that I’ve found a genre of books that celebrates LGBTQ+ lives, I can’t help but want to read and write the stories I’ve always wanted to see and experience in the world of fiction and romance. Everyone deserves love, and I want to share that love with as many people as I can.
This book and series has everything, an enigmatic main character, an elusive serial killer, and best of all, a romantic relationship between LGBTQ+ characters that’s enviable and healthy and something to aspire to. Levi Abrams is likely my favorite character in any book I’ve ever read. He’s prickly, difficult, whip-smart, and driven, but he’s also vulnerable, genuine, and fiercely loyal. I love that I didn’t guess who the killer was in the first book (I had a theory, but I genuinely didn’t know for sure until the big reveal), and this series kept me on my toes the whole time. The writing is solid and the character development is spot on. It’s the kind of series I wish I had written myself.
Homicide detective Levi Abrams is barely holding his life together. He’s reeling from the fallout of a fatal shooting, and his relationship with his boyfriend is crumbling. The last thing he’s prepared for is a serial killer stalking the streets of Las Vegas. Or how he keeps getting thrown into the path of annoyingly charming bounty hunter Dominic Russo.
Dominic likes his life free of complications. That means no tangling with cops — especially prickly, uptight detectives. But when he stumbles across one of the Seven of Spades’s horrifying crime scenes, he…
As part of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, I know firsthand what it is to be othered, and I grew up desperately wanting to read about and watch characters like me in books and movies. Now that I’ve found a genre of books that celebrates LGBTQ+ lives, I can’t help but want to read and write the stories I’ve always wanted to see and experience in the world of fiction and romance. Everyone deserves love, and I want to share that love with as many people as I can.
Jordan L. Hawk took a tired kind of trope and turned it into something amazing. I love paranormal stories, but with vampires, I need to be convinced. By the end of the first chapter, Jordan had me convinced. He took an opposites-attract story, threw a cranky vampire in the middle of it, and turned it into a love story that I now cannot wait for when each new installment is published. It’s fresh, exciting, and I’m still coming back for more. Jordan’s one of my auto-buy authors, and this is one of my favorites of his series. Hands down. The characters are vivid, the adventures unique, and their love story is one for the ages. There’s nothing ordinary about this book.
From best-selling author Jordan L. Hawk, the first half of the SPECTR series is now in a box set!
SPECTR: Volume 1 contains: Hunter of Demons Master of Ghouls Reaper of Souls
All for less than the separate retail price!
What happens when an exorcist falls in love with the demon he’s supposed to destroy?
Unregistered paranormal Caleb Jansen only wants a normal life. But when a demon murders his brother, Caleb must avenge Ben’s death, no matter what the cost. Unfortunately, his only allies belong to an extremist group who would kill Caleb if they found out about his…
Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away.
When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…
As part of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, I know firsthand what it is to be othered, and I grew up desperately wanting to read about and watch characters like me in books and movies. Now that I’ve found a genre of books that celebrates LGBTQ+ lives, I can’t help but want to read and write the stories I’ve always wanted to see and experience in the world of fiction and romance. Everyone deserves love, and I want to share that love with as many people as I can.
It takes a lot to make me emotional, and Jenn Burke managed to get me in the feels with each book in this series, starting with Not Dead Yet. Wes Cooper is not living, but not quite dead due to a spell performed by a witch. He can travel between the living plane and the other plane. When Wes witnesses a murder by something otherworldly, he’s not sure what to do. Crossing paths with his one-time lover Hudson Rojas isn’t what Wes expected, but it does mean he has help to figure out what’s going on. He just doesn’t expect to fall in love again. And oh what a love it is. More than once, I got choked up over Wes and Hudson. Read it. You won’t regret it.
Don’t miss this thrilling and suspenseful second chance romance, book one in a fan-favorite supernatural detective series from Jenn Burke.
Dying isn’t what it used to be.Wes Cooper was dead. Then he wasn’t—though he’s not exactly alive, either. As an immortal not-ghost, he can transition between this world and the otherplane, which makes him the perfect thief for hire. For seventy years he’s made a “living” returning items to their rightful owners, seeing his fair share of the bizarre in the process. But he’s never witnessed murder. Until now.
His latest mission brings him more than he bargained for: a…
I’m a novelist and the editor and publisher of Blind Eye Books—a small press focused on producing LGBT genre fiction as well as a lifelong aficionado of queer media, especially BL, yaoi, and danmei.
When we first meet our protagonist, You Miao is a smug, lazy scholar hanging around studying for the Imperial examination, but when he saves the life of an enslaved warrior Li Zhifeng his life changes forever. Together the two of them revitalize a rundown estate, navigate court intrigue, and weather an invasion. A big, sweeping epic from a leader in the genre. I’d been writing in the mystery genre for quite some time and this book made me want to write fantasy novels again.
I have known that I was gay since I was in second grade and kissed a boy on the playground. But that wasn’t the only way that I knew. Coaches, bullies, religion, and family warned me by namecalling, violence, and intimidation. It wasn’t until I was in college that I heard homosexuality portrayed in a positive light. Thank you, Walt Whitman. Then I saw The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert, and knew that I had to go on my own adventure in search of my gay tribe. Novels can be a tribe. I hope the books on my list give you a place to find acceptance and love.
Two Boys Kissing is a book about the culture and “inherited memory” of LGBTQ+ people. It is a crucial contribution because it bridges the generation of gay men living (and dying) through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s with the younger, modern LGTBQ+ generation who share similar challenges but haven’t connected to the wisdom of LGBTQ history.
The story and characters affirmed my identity, named my pain, and brought it within the collective history of those who have carried the same burdens of shame, fear, and self-loathing.
From the New York Times best-selling author of Every Day, comes a touching, thoughtful and deeply romantic look at love and discovering your true self.
The two boys kissing are Craig and Harry. They're hoping to set the world record for the longest kiss. They're not a couple, but they used to be.
Peter and Neil are a couple. Their kisses are different. Avery and Ryan have only just met and are trying to figure out what happens next. Cooper is alone. He's not sure how he feels.
As the marathon progresses, these boys, their friends and families evaluate the…
In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.
Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…
I wrote Uncle Bobby’s Wedding in 2005, just after same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts. It was published in 2008 and immediately became the target of anti-LGBT attacks. Many people attempted to ban it. Some went so far as to burn it – and then they wrote totell me they had. It was one of the most challenged books in the country that year, and it was one of the 100 most-challenged books of the decade. I have been deeply involved with LGBTQ+ picture books ever since.
The main character, a little boy named Raphael, loves his friend Jerome. And Raphael loves Jerome for good reasons – Jerome makes him feel protected, Jerome holds his hand, “Jerome always sees me, even when he’s with his friends.” Despite a little opposition from Raphael’s parents, this is the warmest of books about how sweet and life-affirming the love between two children can be.
"Raphael loves Jerome. I say it. It's easy."
This story follows a little boy named Raphael, whose daily rhythm is steeped in his immense affection for his friend Jerome. The two boys share jokes and snacks and plan future adventures to the Himalayas. Even when Raphael's constant talk of Jerome is driving his parents crazy, he remains steadfast: "Raphael loves Jerome. I can say it. It's easy." And the truth is, when he's with Jerome, Raphael feels happy, liked, and understood- even special. Thomas Scotto's simple, strong, and insightful prose and Olivier Tallec's delightful, expressive illustrations give much emotion and…
Every time I write a romance novel, I find myself returning to the same themes: seeing people for who they are beneath the surface, respecting others despite differences, and choosing to love those who might seem a little odd. Whether they’re angels, mermaids, or plain old humans, my characters lead lives where, despite marginalization and alienation, love and a sense of belonging are possible. My Christmas novella, Mistletoe Mishap, was a Lambda Literary Award finalist.
I love romance novels with characters who care about others who are different than themselves. In this one, an extraterrestrial crash-lands on Earth and is rescued by a human man. They’re both emotionally lost, devastated by the deaths of their respective spouses, but as the man nurses the alien back to health, they both regain the will to live. The way they protect each other, despite barely being able to communicate, is heart-wrenchingly beautiful.
Flee. Scatter. Take your mates and your offspring and run.
A new Science Fiction Romance from Angel Martinez
The escape pods fall to Earth one by one over the course of weeks, a mysterious and diverse alien diaspora, each pod containing a different alien race and leaving the world's governments scrambling to deal with this unexpected immigration. Serge Kosygin, still grieving and isolated after his husband's death, watches events with gray disinterest until one day he witnesses a pod crash for himself while driving home. Two of the alien visitors have died, but one survives, badly injured, and Serge is…
I grew up attending Catholic school in conservative Indiana. Sex—especially if it was of the homosexual variety—was the ultimate taboo. I can’t overstate how damaging it is to believe that one of your natural urges is proof of your depravity. Books that depict queer sexual relations, be they fleeting or romantic, gave me my first glimpse of a wider world where my sexual identity could be expressed. These books liberated me. Even now, I find that sexy and subversive novels help me understand parts of myself that can still be difficult to discuss in polite company. We all need our boundaries pushed.
Faggots pissed off a lot of people in the LGBTQ+ community when it was published in 1978, and Larry Kramer was accused of vilifying gay men for indulging in anonymous sex and recreational drugs. Unfortunately, the subsequent AIDS crisis, linked to unprotected sex and intravenous drug use, made the novel look like a prescient warning.
But the initial uproar and the retroactive clairvoyance attached to Faggots had no bearing on me when I read the novel in the 2000s. To me, there was a doomed innocence to these gay men. I didn’t begrudge them the joys of hot sex and exhilarating drugs. They didn’t know what was coming; they didn’t deserve what was coming. Books can take on new meaning across generations, and Faggots became a time capsule I cherish.
“A book of major historical importance—the first contemporary novel to chronicle gay life with unsparing honesty and wild humor.”—Erica Jong
In print since its original publication in 1978, Larry Kramer’s Faggots has become one of the bestselling novels about gay life ever written. The book is a fierce satire of the gay ghetto and a touching story of one man’s desperate search for love there, and reading it today is a fascinating look at how much, and how little, has changed.
“As a documentation of an era, as savage and savagely funny social parody, as a cry in the wilderness,…
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…
So many of the books that spoke to both me and other lesbian and feminist activists in the 1970s–the books that helped us make sense of our lives and of the world–aren’t read much anymore. Times change. Interests change. So that’s natural enough. But damn, I don’t want them to be lost. I’d like to call us back to the passion and the ambition of those ground-breaking times. I want LGBTQ+ writers to work as if our words could change the world, because we never know in advance which ones will.
I knew Jim, so I’m biased, but he was a fine poet–one of the real ones, as another poet said of him.
He isn’t as well known as he should be. He writes simply, honestly, and beautifully. Some of his poems make me want to weep, no matter how many times I read them.
Instead of telling you about the book, I’ll get out of the way and quote from one poem:
“Sometimes I’m their first. / Sweet, sweet men. / I light candles, burn the best incense. / Make them think it’s some kind of temple / and it rather is. // Like this guy who hauled parts for a living, / whatever the hell that means. / He was like caught light through glass, / and so the candles and the incense. / What would you do with a new colt? // He touched my body the way…
The powerful and influential last poems of an unsung master, now again available, with a new introduction by National Book Award winner Mark Doty
James L. White's The Salt Ecstasies―originally published in 1982, shortly after White's untimely death―has earned a reputation for its artful and explicit expression of love and desire. In this new edition, with an introduction by Mark Doty and previously unpublished works by White, his invaluable poetry is again available―clear, passionate, and hard-earned.
The Salt Ecstasies is a new book in the Graywolf Poetry Re/View Series, edited by Doty, dedicated to bringing essential books of contemporary American…
