Gay men book series in reading order

by Mark Richard Zubro

by Mark A. Roeder

by Richard Stevenson

by Mark Richard Zubro

by Michael Nava

by Abigail Roux

by Anthony Bidulka

by Greg Herren

by Morgan Brice

by John Morgan Wilson

by Neil S. Plakcy

by K.C. Wells

by Becca Van

by Charlie Cochet

by L.A. Witt

by Jordan Castillo Price

by Claire McNab

by L.A. Witt

by Casey McQuiston

Amy Lane writes gay romance, with catalogue subjects spanning contemporary, paranormal and fantasy romance and vampires. The catalogue lists 146 books, and the newest is The Grifter (2026). Series include Little Goddess, Long Con, Fish Out of Water, Granby Knitting, Promises, Johnnies, Bitter Moon Saga, Candy Man, Bonfires, Hedge Witches Lonely Hearts Club, Talker and Winter Ball. Bluewater Bay is also linked to Lane in the catalogue. The 2010s are the busiest decade.

Mark Richard Zubro writes mysteries set in Chicago and the surrounding Cook County. The longest sequence pairs high school teacher Tom Mason with his boyfriend Scott Carpenter, a professional baseball player, from A Simple Suburban Murder (1988) onward. The Paul Turner books follow a gay Chicago police detective. Gay themes run through the fiction, and Zubro is gay. Seven groupings hold the 38 catalogued titles, which reach Peace in 2024. Zubro taught 8th grade English in Illinois and lives in Mokena.

Rick R. Reed writes gay romance, horror and suspense. The catalogue holds 80 books published between 1991 and 2025, opening with Obsessed (1991) and reaching Jealous of the Clouds (2025). Reed's early novels, including Penance (1992) and A Face without a Heart (2000), sit in horror and thriller, while later work turns to contemporary gay romance in series such as Chaser and Raining Men and Big Love. Median length is 216 pages.

L.A. Witt writes gay romance and suspense, and the catalogue holds 183 books from Rules of Engagement (2009) to Tough Call (2026). Rain: The Sequel to Rules of Engagement followed in 2010. Subjects include gay men, erotic romance, thrillers, science fiction, gender identity, vampires and Los Angeles. Series include Wildes, Market Garden, Anchor Point, Tucker Springs, Bad Behavior, Gentlemen of the Emerald City and Hitman vs Hitman, and Bluewater Bay is also linked. Witt now lives in Pittsburgh after years as a military spouse, and publishes LGBTQ+ sweet romance, asexual romance and young adult fiction as Ann Gallagher.

Joseph Hansen (1923-2004) was an American crime writer and poet. Dave Brandstetter, a private investigator, is Hansen's central character, in a series running from Fadeout (1970) and Death Claims (1973) through a long line of California cases. Gay men and gay life in Los Angeles are the subjects that set the work apart from the crime writing around it. Early titles appeared as James Colton and two as Rose Brock. Thirty-seven books are catalogued between 1964 and 2002, and the Joseph Hansen Awards carry his name.

Greg Herren

33 books• 3 series

New Orleans is the constant in Greg Herren's crime fiction. Born in 1961, Herren is an American writer and editor who works in mystery, young adult fiction and erotica, and who also publishes as Todd Gregory. The 2008 Lambda Literary Awards named Murder in the Rue Chartres best gay mystery; a year earlier, the anthology Love, Bourbon Street, co-edited with Paul J. Willis, won its own category. Three series carry the novels: Scotty Bradley, Chanse MacLeod and Killer Queen Mystery. 33 titles span 2002 to Hurricane Season Hustle in 2026.

Edmund White

35 books• 4 series

Edmund Valentine White III (1940-2025) was an American novelist, memoirist, playwright, biographer and essayist, and a pioneering figure in gay literature after the Stonewall riots. White wrote with rare candour about gay identity, relationships and sex, at a time when coming out still carried real danger. The semi-autobiographical trilogy runs from A Boy's Own Story (1982) through The Beautiful Room Is Empty (1988) to The Farewell Symphony (1997). This catalogue holds 35 titles from Forgetting Elena (1973) to The Loves of My Life (2025), among them States of Desire (1980), Caracole (1985), Genet (1993) and Our Paris: Sketches from Memory (1994). Subjects cover gay men and gay authors, biography, AIDS, coming of age and intellectual life.

Josh Lanyon writes mysteries about gay men, with subject headings naming gay couples, murder investigation, erotic romance, blues musicians and extortion. The catalogue holds 106 books from 2007 to 2026. Boy Meets Body, Old Poison, The Dark Horse, Snowball In Hell and I'll Be Dead For Christmas all date from 2007, and Death of a Pirate King, Dangerous Ground, Hostage and Mexican Heat from 2008. Series include Adrien English Mysteries, Holmes & Moriarity, All's Fair, Dangerous Ground, In A Dark Wood, Doyle and Spain, XOXO Files, Secrets and Scrabble and Haunted Heart. The 12 Days Ultimatum (2026) is the newest.

Mark A. Roeder writes coming-of-age fiction about gay teenagers, set largely in small-town Indiana. The catalogue holds 101 books published between 1999 and 2026, from Ancient Prejudice, Break to New Mutiny to Lukas & Hawthorne. Most titles belong to the Gay Youth Chronicles, split into the Verona and Bloomington sequences and also arranged as one complete chronology. Coming out, fathers and sons, and occasional mystery plots such as Someone Is Killing the Gay Boys of Verona run through the work.

Abigail Roux, a North Carolina native and former volleyball player who now coaches middle school volleyball and softball, writes gay romantic suspense. Roux's best-known series is Cut & Run, which shares its name with a 2008 title, and a second series is Sidewinder. The 22 catalogued books run from Caught Running (2007) to Crash & Burn (2015), and include Sticks & Stones (2010), Divide & Conquer (2011) and Armed & Dangerous (2012). The catalogue is listed as likely complete.

T.J. Klune (Travis John Klune) won a Lambda Literary Award for Into This River I Drown (2013) and once worked as a claims examiner for an insurance company. Bear, Otter, and the Kid (2011) is the first of 47 catalogued books, and We Burned So Bright (2026) is the newest, with The Stars Look Like Home due in 2027. The House in the Cerulean Sea and The Extraordinaries are named novels. Green Creek and Tales From Verania are series, and subjects include M/M romance, LGBTQ+ fiction and fantasy.

Armistead Maupin

17 books• 2 series

Armistead Maupin, an American writer born May 13, 1944, is noted for Tales of the City, a series of novels set in San Francisco. The catalogue lists 17 Maupin books from 1978 to 2024. Tales of the City and More Tales of the City are both dated 1978, followed by Further Tales of the City (1982), Babycakes (1984), Significant Others (1987) and Sure of You (1989). Maybe the Moon (1992) and The Night Listener (2000) are also listed. Subjects include gay men, lesbians and city life in San Francisco. Mona of the Manor (2024) is the newest title.

Neil S. Plakcy writes mystery and romance with gay protagonists. Mahu (2005), first of a police procedural series about the Hawaii detective Kimo Kanapa'aka, opens a catalogue of 111 books that reaches Dog of Secrets (2026). The Golden Retriever Mystery series, Have Body, Will Guard, Angus Green and Merrychurch-style light mysteries fill out the list. Dogs, Hawaii and police work recur as subjects. The median book runs 266 pages.

Morgan Brice writes gay romance, with 38 books in the catalogue from 2018 to 2026. Badlands, Burn, Dark Rivers, Lucky Town and Witchbane all date from 2018. Series listed are Badlands, Witchbane, Fox Hollow Zodiac, Treasure Trail and Sharps & Springfield. Flame and Ash, Loose Ends and The Rising followed in 2019, and Necessities (2026) is the newest title.

Richard Stevenson writes the Donald Strachey and Clifford Waterman series. Subject tags on the work include private investigators, gay men and Albany, New York. The catalogue holds 18 books from Death Trick (1981) to Chasing Rembrandt (2023). On the Other Hand, Death (1984), Ice Blues (1987), Third Man Out (1992) and Strachey's Folly (1998) are among the titles. Books have appeared at an average interval of 2.5 years.

Becca Van wrote erotic romance across paranormal, western and science fiction settings, with Colorado and New Mexico among the recorded locations. Slick Rock, Pack Law, Passion, Victoria, Club of Dominance, Hidden Dragons, Elite Dragons and Alaskan Wildlands head a list of 12 series. The catalogue holds 140 books published between 2010 and 2021, opening with Melissa's Acceptance, Sara's Mates and Tessa's Chosen in 2010. Volumes run short, about 130 pages. No new title has appeared since 2021.

Jeffrey Round is a Canadian writer, director, playwright, publisher and songwriter who has supported the growth of LGBT literature in Canada. Round's output spans literary fiction, plays, poetry and mystery novels. The Dan Sharp Mystery and Bradford Fairfax Murder Mystery series are catalogued, with Toronto, private investigators, missing persons and gay men among the subjects. The 16 books run from A Cage of Bones (1997) to The Sulphur Springs Cure (2024), including The P-Town Murders (2007) and Lake on the Mountain (2012).

J.A. Rock is the author or coauthor of over twenty LGBTQ romance, suspense and horror novels, and an occasional contributor to HuffPo Queer Voices. Minotaur drew Lambda Literary and INDIEFAB Award nominations, and The Subs Club took the 2016 National Leather Association-International Pauline Reage Novel Award. Rock lives in Chicago. The catalogue lists 35 titles from Wacky Wednesday (2012) to No Business Like Snow Business (2024), and subjects name M/M romance, BDSM, dominance and submission, humour and crime. Series include Subs Club, Lords of Bucknall Club, Playing the Fool and Prescott College.

James Lear writes gay erotica and mystery fiction, and the catalogue lists 11 books from 2001 to 2018. Two series appear under the name: Mitch Mitchell Mystery and Dan Stagg Mystery. The Low Road (2001) is the first book, followed by The Palace Of Varieties (2003), The Back Passage (2006), Hot Valley (2007) and The Secret Tunnel (2008). A Sticky End (2010), The Hardest Thing (2013), Straight Up (2015), The Sun Goes Down (2016) and While My Wife's Away (2017) come later, and In the Ring (2018) is the newest. Subject tags include gay men, murder, suspense, action and adventure, history and Scotland.

B.A. Tortuga writes gay romance and erotica, with 203 books catalogued from 2004 to 2026. Subjects include gay men, erotic romance, romance short stories and vampires. Stress Relief (2004) is the first listed title and Blue Collar Cowboy (2026) the newest. Tortuga's series include Cozy Cowboys, Roughstock, Leanin' N, Wrecked Universe, Spurs & Saddles, Banished and Higher Elevation. Jodi Payne shares credit on 2 of the books.

Michael Nava

13 books• 1 series

Michael Nava, born September 16, 1954, is an American attorney and novelist who worked on the staff of the California Supreme Court and ran for a Superior Court seat in 2010. Nava wrote a ten-volume mystery series about Henry Rios, an openly gay criminal defense lawyer. Nava's novels have won seven Lambda Literary Awards. The catalogue lists 13 books from Lay Your Sleeping Head / The Little Death (1986) to Lies With Man (2021), including Goldenboy (1988) and The Hidden Law (1992).

Garrett Leigh writes gay romance, with 61 books catalogued from Bullet (2013) to Just This Kiss (2026). Subjects attached to the books include gay men, emergency medical technicians, mental illness, grief, soldiers, the Iraq War, the British Special Air Service and Chicago. Series by Garrett Leigh include Rebel Kings MC, Skins, Blue Boy, Roads, Only Love, Darkest Skies, Men Of Porth Luck and Urban Soul.

Gay romance and erotica lead the subject records for J.L. Merrow, which add paranormal romance, romantic suspense, fantasy, journalists and murder. The catalogue lists 43 books from Sindustry (2009) to Face Blind (2022). Camwolf, Lonewolf, Muscling Through and Tea and Crumpet all date from 2011. Plumber's Mate Mysteries, Mad About the Brit Boys, Rael and Lars, Shamwell Tales, Camwolf and Glastonbury Tales are the listed series.

Christopher Isherwood (26 August 1904 to 4 January 1986), born Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood, was an English and American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, diarist and autobiographer. Goodbye to Berlin (1939), a semi-autobiographical novel, became the basis for Cabaret (1966). Tom Ford directed a 2009 film of A Single Man (1964), and the memoir Christopher and His Kind (1976) placed Isherwood within the Gay Liberation movement. The catalogue lists 41 books from All the Conspirators (1928), including Mr Norris Changes Trains (1935), Prater Violet (1945) and Vedanta for Modern Man (1951). Berlin Stories is the listed series.