The Gay Book Club Certified Reviews

A queer reimagining of Great Expectations that earns every tear it pulls out of you. Scarlett Drake's Oleander is gorgeous, devastating, and yes, occasionally predictable—but the prose is good enough and the emotional architecture true enough that none of that matters. A love story for anyone who ever lost years to a beautiful, impossible boy.

Charlie Winshaw is anxious, awkward, and genuinely likeable. Too bad he fell for Dev. Booker reviews The Charm Offensive — a bloated but occasionally charming M/M romcom that needed a better editor and a better hero.

The fake boyfriend trope is Article One of the M/M romance constitution — and for good reason. We ranked and reviewed eleven of the best (and a few with small asterisks), from cozy small-town grumps to blue-collar pressure cookers to one very confused straight man who keeps kissing his fake boyfriend like he means it.

Owen Bosley is the guy you call in a crisis — steady, warm, and completely unprepared for who just moved into his cottage. One Last Try is a slow burn MM rugby romance done exactly right: charming, funny, and set in a British village so cozy you'll want to move in yourself. Jemma Croft delivers.

Falling for Raine by Lane Hayes is comfort food M/M romance — predictable, a little indulgent, and exactly what you need sometimes. Grumpy British billionaire meets chaotic sunshine American in London, and yes, you already know how it ends. But Raine is so irresistible he makes every familiar beat worth it. Our full review is up.

Jackson Harper is adorable, Head Rock Harbor is delightfully sleepy, and the murder is almost beside the point — which is either a feature or a bug depending on what you're looking for. Head for Murder is the coziest of cozy mysteries: low stakes, low drama, and genuinely charming. If that's what you need right now, you've found your book.

Two broken men, a lighthouse, and the slow, aching work of learning to trust again. Galaxies and Oceans is a tender, beautifully written romance about grief, survival, and finding home in another person. Nearly perfect.

Big, burly, and terrified of being left—Patrick runs a Greenwich Village bookstore and keeps his heart carefully guarded. Then a mysterious drifter and a grieving friend show up, and everything changes. After Hours at Dooryard Books is a tender, beautifully observed story about finding people whose baggage fits with yours. Highly recommended.

Toby robs the wrong man and ends up working for him—what could go wrong? A Thief in the Night is a charming, tightly written novella that nails the romance but leaves the heist wanting more.