Books like 'The Absolutist'
Readers who enjoyed The Absolutist by John Boyne also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical gay romance war military 20th century angst forbidden love queer secret-relationship betrayal
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A Kingdom by the Sea by Anna Green
The final volume of The Heart Rate of a Mouse trilogy. In November 1978, over a year has passed since music icon Ryan Ross announced his retirement from the public eye. He is far from being forgotten, however, as his musical influence can be heard whenever Brendon Roscoe starts singing on the radio. As the frontman of the upcoming band His Side, Brendon was famously discovered by Ross... -
![Twist and Shout by Gabriel (AO3), Standbyme]()
Twist and Shout by Gabriel (AO3), Standbyme
Destiel Fanfic. What begins as a transforming love between Dean Winchester and Castiel Novak in the summer of 1965 quickly derails into something far more tumultuous when Dean is drafted in the Vietnam War. Though the two both voice their relationship is one where saying goodbye is never a real truth, their story becomes fraught with the tragedy of circumstance... -
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![Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin]()
Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin
James Baldwin’s groundbreaking novel about love and the fear of love is set among the bohemian bars and nightclubs of 1950s Paris. In the 1950s Paris of American expatriates, liaisons, and violence, a young man finds himself caught between desire and conventional morality...Categorized as:
20th century angst forbidden love queer historical m-m forced proximity other-man-woman -
![Over the Tracks by Anna Green]()
Over the Tracks by Anna Green
The first volume of The Heart Rate of a Mouse trilogy. In the summer of 1974, musician Ryan Ross embarks on an exhausting tour in support of his band's breakthrough album. He finds himself struggling to live up to the pressure and expectations of sudden fame in the chaos of endless shows and interviews... -
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![Into Deep Waters by Kaje Harper]()
Into Deep Waters by Kaje Harper
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 32 ratingsFor Jacob and Daniel, two young gay men aboard a Navy ship in WWII, the risks were high. Not just the risks of injury and death from Japanese planes and submarines, but the risk of discovery, of discharge, imprisonment or worse. Only a special kind of love was worth taking that chance. But from the moment Daniel met Jacob's eyes across a battle-scarred deck, he knew he had to try... -
![Slippery Creatures by K.J. Charles]()
Slippery Creatures by K.J. Charles
Will Darling came back from the Great War with a few scars, a lot of medals, and no idea what to do next. Inheriting his uncle’s chaotic second-hand bookshop is a blessing. .. until strange visitors start making threats. First a criminal gang, then the War Office, both telling Will to give them the information they want, or else...Categorized as:
20th century military forbidden love queer betrayal friends-benefits angst secret-relationship -
![To Trust Man On His Oath by K.J. Charles]()
To Trust Man On His Oath by K.J. Charles
A Will Darling Adventures interlude. Set a week after the ending of The Sugared Game (so contains. mild spoilers for that book). -
![Ninety One Whiskey by komodobits]()
Ninety One Whiskey by komodobits
Supernatural Fanfic - Dean/Castiel. In the spring of 1944, the 104th Medical Battalion of the United States Army is disbanded, and its men reassigned to various infantry companies in preparation for their invasion of occupied France...Categorized as:
queer war historical m-m from hate to love disabilities and marks length-epic explicit-open-door -
![These Old Lies by Larrie Barton]()
These Old Lies by Larrie Barton
A second chance at love for two men who fought together in the trenches of WWI. Class, ideals and prejudice drove them apart, but now, in the safety of peacetime, an illicit gay relationship has its own joys and risks. 1916, Northern France. Corporal Charlie Villiers breaks the monotony of the trenches by having sex with whoever is willing, including the posh Lieutenant Ned Pinsent...Categorized as:
military 20th century forbidden love friends-benefits secret-relationship war queer historical -
![Song for a Viking by K.J. Charles]()
Song for a Viking by K.J. Charles
‘Song for a Viking’ takes place during/just after the events of the last chapter of Think of England and will be of no use at all to anyone who hasn’t read that book. It is not a standalone. You will definitely get the most out of it if you remind yourself of Think of England’s last chapter before reading. -
![Eryx: A Spartan Tale by Jaclyn Osborn]()
Eryx: A Spartan Tale by Jaclyn Osborn
My father once told me, above all else. .. Live and die for Sparta. Honor. Loyalty. Duty. These were the things that mattered most. And then Axios came into my life, teaching me other lessons: humility, brotherhood. .. love. There were moments when the brutal training stripped me of my humanity, where it turned me into a mindless beast of flesh and muscle set to destroy everything in my way...Categorized as:
angst queer historical m-m friends to lovers length-long audiobook explicit-plentiful -
![Whistling in the Dark by Tamara Allen]()
Whistling in the Dark by Tamara Allen
New York City, 1919. His career as a concert pianist ended by a war injury, Sutton Albright returns to college, only to be expelled after a scandalous affair with a teacher. Unable to face his family, Sutton heads to Manhattan with no plans and little money in his pocket but with a desire to call his life his own... -
![Chain Reaction by Nicole Edwards]()
Chain Reaction by Nicole Edwards
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Nicole Edwards comes the tenth installment in her Brantley Off the Books series. During the two years since they created the Off the Books Task Force, Brantley Walker and Reese Tavoularis have had their share of difficult cases, but their next one hits close to home. Too close... -
![Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski]()
Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
Set in early 1980s Poland against the violent decline of communism, a tender and passionate story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide—a stunningly poetic and heartrending literary debut for fans of Andre Aciman, Garth Greenwell, and Alan Hollinghurst...Categorized as:
20th century secret-relationship queer forbidden love new adult historical m-m lgbtqia hate -
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![A Trail of Fire by Diana Gabaldon]()
A Trail of Fire by Diana Gabaldon
Four extraordinary stories featuring characters from the bestselling OUTLANDER series. In. Lord John and the Plague of Zombies. Lord John Grey is posted to Jamaica to assist the Governor as he faces a most unusual kind of uprising among the colony's slave population... -
![Skybound by Aleksandr Voinov]()
Skybound by Aleksandr Voinov
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsGermany, 1945. The Third Reich is on its knees as Allied forces bomb Berlin to break the last resistance. Yet on an airfield near Berlin, the battle is far from over for a young mechanic, Felix, who’s attached to a squadron of fighter pilots. He’s especially attached to fighter ace Baldur Vogt, a man he admires and secretly loves... -
![Leeward by Katie Daysh]()
Leeward by Katie Daysh
For whatever we lose, it is our self we find in the sea. 1800. HMS Ulysses mutinies off Trinidad and vanishes into the Caribbean. No one knows how many of the crew are left alive or what the mutineers plan to do with the vessel. Captain Hiram Nightingale is a veteran of the wars which have raged throughout Europe and the Americas for the last decades... -
![Only You by Leta Blake]()
Only You by Leta Blake
Join Peter Mandel on his final steps to love in Only You, the highly-anticipated final book of Leta Blake's ’90s Coming of Age series. Despite the lingering wounds of his past relationship, Peter is ready to take a chance on finding a faithful love and embracing his true self. Peter and Daniel explore their connection despite Daniel's complicated home life...Categorized as:
angst 20th century queer friends to lovers m-m new adult second chances contemporary -
![Hallum by Casey Morales]()
Hallum by Casey Morales
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCaptured or Killed? Only the War knows. Will Shaw and his friends are typical college students, enjoying dances and parties without much care for life beyond. When Thomas, a handsome Naval officer and newly arrived student, nearly stumbles into Will and his friends, Will's heart spins, though he doesn't understand why... -
![Until the End of Time by Nicky James]()
Until the End of Time by Nicky James
Being a gay man in 1827, was not only frowned upon in England, but punishable by death. Magistrate Simon Stockley would know. He’d convicted men in his courtroom and sentenced them himself. Every time, it left a vile taste in his mouth because Simon was no different than the men whose lives he claimed... -
![Midnight Flit by Elin Gregory]()
Midnight Flit by Elin Gregory
Miles Siward and Briers Allerdale return for another thrilling Jazz Age adventure. “Silk stockings on expenses. ”. Miles’s aristocratic mother has information of importance to the British Government and he must escort her home from Bucharest immediately, but their plans go violently awry and Miles and Lady Siward find themselves on a train to Belgrade - where Miles’s lover is posted... -
![Alec by William di Canzio]()
Alec by William di Canzio
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsWilliam di Canzio's Alec, inspired by Maurice, E. M. Forster's secret novel of a happy same-sex love affair, tells the story of Alec Scudder, the gamekeeper Maurice Hall falls in love with in Forster's classic, published only after the author's death. Di Canzio follows their story past the end of Maurice to the front lines of battle in World War I and beyond... -
![An Honest Man by Ben Fergusson]()
An Honest Man by Ben Fergusson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn West Berlin in 1989, eighteen-year-old Ralf has just left school and is living a final golden summer with his three best friends. They spend their days swimming, smoking and daydreaming about the future, oblivious to the storm gathering on the other side of the Berlin Wall... -
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![Hammer & Powder by Megan Derr]()
Hammer & Powder by Megan Derr
The Kingdom of Rinaha is all that stands between the violent, greedy Boorna and the rest of the continent, and they do so by way of their immense and heavily guarded Wall of Gamala, an enormous undertaking that runs the length of the southern end of the continent, standing strong for more than two hundred years...Categorized as:
military queer m-m suspense historical length-medium explicit-open-door first-in-series -
![Hidden Treasures by Marshall Thornton]()
Hidden Treasures by Marshall Thornton
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsIt’s about a dress. A valuable blue sequined dress worn by a famed actress in a film from the 1940s. For some reason everyone thinks video storeowner Noah Valentine has it. Which might not be a big deal except that it’s connected to the murder of a prominent Hollywood costumer. In the second of the Pinx Video Mysteries, Noah attempts to solve the mystery of the dress... -
![The Charioteer by Mary Renault]()
The Charioteer by Mary Renault
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 35 ratingsAfter enduring an injury at Dunkirk during World War II, Laurie Odell is sent to a rural veterans’ hospital in England to convalesce. There he befriends the young, bright Andrew, a conscientious objector serving as an orderly. As they find solace and companionship together in the idyllic surroundings of the hospital, their friendship blooms into a discreet, chaste romance... -
![Deck the Halls in Secret Agents by Aster Glenn Gray]()
Deck the Halls in Secret Agents by Aster Glenn Gray
Christmas Eve, 1991. The Soviet Union is on the rocks, and so is George Douglass's career in espionage. Nonetheless, the American agent is wading through a blizzard on one last mission. But when George emerges from the snow at a supposedly abandoned chateau, it's lit up like a Christmas tree... -
![At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill]()
At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O'Neill
Set during the year preceding the Easter Uprising of 1916 -- Ireland's brave but fractured revolt against British rule -- At Swim, Two Boys is a tender, tragic love story and a brilliant depiction of people caught in the tide of history. Powerful and artful, and ten years in the writing, it is a masterwork from Jamie O'Neill... -
![Now and Then by William Corlett]()
Now and Then by William Corlett
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsNow. Christopher Metcalfe returns to his family home in Kent after the death of his father. Sorting through a box of memorabilia from his days at public school, Chris is suddenly confronted by the face that has haunted him for thirty years... -
![Separate Rooms by Pier Vittorio Tondelli]()
Separate Rooms by Pier Vittorio Tondelli
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsSoon to be a major film adaptation by Luca Guadagnino, Separate Rooms is a masterpiece of Italian literature, and a heartbreaking portrait of love, grief, and the daily realities of being a gay man in 1980s Europe. Thomas, a young German musician, is dying. His older boyfriend, a renowned Italian writer named Leo, finds it impossible to watch the slow and inevitable demise of his lover... -
![Dublin Bay by John Patrick]()
Dublin Bay by John Patrick
In 1939, the world tumbles toward war and the lives of two young men will be forever changed. James Brennan grew up in the poorest of Dublin’s tenements, turning adversity to advantage wherever he could. But he’s nearly a man now—with a good education at that—and wants more from life than what he can get as a day laborer, or following his father into the factory... -
![By Marsh and by Moor by Annick Trent]()
By Marsh and by Moor by Annick Trent
M/M historical romance. Jed Trevithick, able seaman, has just escaped from the Royal Navy, and he's determined never to return. But the war against Napoleon is never-ending, and Naval press gangs scour the coast, looking for cannon fodder. He meets Solomon Dyer, a London ostler who has his own reasons for avoiding the press gang... -
![The Custom of the Army by Diana Gabaldon]()
The Custom of the Army by Diana Gabaldon
Diana Gabaldon, bestselling author of the acclaimed Outlander series, weaves an engrossing tale of war, history, and suspense in this original novella—available exclusively as an eBook—featuring returning hero Lord John Grey. London, 1759. After a high society electric-eel party leads to a duel that ends badly, Lord John Grey feels the need to lie low for a while... -
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![When Skies Have Fallen by Debbie McGowan]()
When Skies Have Fallen by Debbie McGowan
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsFor many in war-torn 1944, love blossoms in the dance hall, and airman Arty Clarke is no exception. He’s a thinker and a dreamer; however, it’s not the beautiful, talented dancer in his arms—his best friend Jean—who inspires his dreams. For when his gaze meets that of Technical Sergeant Jim Johnson, Arty dares to imagine a different dance... -
![When Skies Have Fallen (When Skies Have Fallen) by Debbie McGowan]()
When Skies Have Fallen (When Skies Have Fallen) by Debbie McGowan
For many in war-torn 1944, love blossoms in the dance hall, and airman Arty Clarke is no exception. He’s a thinker and a dreamer; however, it’s not the beautiful, talented dancer in his arms—his best friend Jean—who inspires his dreams. For when his gaze meets that of Technical Sergeant Jim Johnson, Arty dares to imagine a different dance...Categorized as:
military secret-relationship queer historical m-m length-medium open-door disabilities and marks -
![Till Death Do Us Part by Tangstory]()
Till Death Do Us Part by Tangstory
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSet in early-20th century China, this story takes off in the port city of Tientsin (Tianjin) that is divided into lands called concessions and owned by several foreign powers. Shen Liangsheng is a charismatic and cunning playboy, a son of a rich businessman, who has profits as his top priority... -
![Words Heard in Silence by T. Novan, Taylor Rickard]()
Words Heard in Silence by T. Novan, Taylor Rickard
An epic love story in war-ravaged Culpeper during the Civil War where an unlikely romance blossoms between the widowed Rebecca and the dashing Union Officer Colonel Charles. Can their love survive the agony of war? It's 1864 in Culpeper, Virginia, and the Civil War is raging. War widow Rebecca Gaines struggles to manage the family farm on her own... -
![Broken Blades by Aleksandr Voinov, L.A. Witt]()
Broken Blades by Aleksandr Voinov, L.A. Witt
Rainbow Award Winner 2016 “Best Gay Book”. They only had one night together—a stolen interlude at the 1936 Olympics. After Mark Driscoll challenged Armin Truchsess von Kardenberg to a good-natured fencing match, there was no resisting each other... -
![The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault]()
The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIn The Last of the Wine, two young Athenians, Alexias and Lysis, compete in the palaestra, journey to the Olympic games, fight in the wars against Sparta, and study under Socrates. As their relationship develops, Renault expertly conveys Greek culture, showing the impact of this supreme philosopher whose influence spans epochs. -
![Putting on the Ritz by Joe Keenan]()
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![Eleventh Hour by Elin Gregory]()
Eleventh Hour by Elin Gregory
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsBorrowed from the Secret Intelligence Service cipher department to assist Briers Allerdale - a field agent returning to 1920s London with news of a dangerous anarchist plot - Miles Siward moves into a 'couples only' boarding house, posing as Allerdale’s 'wife'... -
![A Land So Wild by Elyssa Warkentin]()
A Land So Wild by Elyssa Warkentin
In 1845, the HMS Vanguard, under the command of Captain William Caulderson, departed England on a voyage of discovery to find a Northwest Passage through the perilous arctic waters separating the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was never heard from again... -
![The General and the Horse-Lord by Sarah Black]()
The General and the Horse-Lord by Sarah Black
Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars · 11 ratings2nd Edition. The General and the Horse-Lord: Book One. General John Mitchel and his favorite pilot, Gabriel Sanchez, served together as comrades and brothers-in-arms for more than twenty-five years. They followed the warrior’s path: honor first, and service, and the safety of the tribe. Their own needs for love and companionship were secondary to the mission... -
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![Rebel by Sally Malcolm]()
Rebel by Sally Malcolm
Falling in love is just the beginning. .. Samuel Hutchinson has lived his whole life in Rosemont, Rhode Island. And as far as he’s concerned, his future is fixed: complete his legal training, marry a respectable woman, and settle down to raise a family. But Sam never counted on meeting Nathaniel Tanner... -
![The Flight of the Heron by Historical Novel]()
The Flight of the Heron by Historical Novel
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsDiving into the historical turmoil of the Jacobite Uprising, 'The Flight of the Heron' by Historical Novel is a captivating historical novel that skillfully weaves together the intricacies of politics, loyalty, and love during this tumultuous period... -
![Gemini by Michel Tournier]()
Gemini by Michel Tournier
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsJean and Paul are identical twins. Outsiders, even their parents, cannot tell them apart, and call them Jean-Paul. The mysterious bond between them excludes all others; they speak their own language; they are one perfectly harmonious unit; they are, in all innocence, lovers. For Paul, this unity is paradise, but as they grow up Jean rebels against it... -
![The Flight of the Heron by D.K. Broster]()
The Flight of the Heron by D.K. Broster
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA young Highlander leaves his home and his bride-to-be to follow the standard of Bonnie Prince Charlie. -
![On Wings of Song by Anne Barwell]()
On Wings of Song by Anne Barwell
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA chance meeting they never forgot. Six years after meeting British soldier Aiden Foster during the Christmas Truce of 1914, Jochen Weber still finds himself thinking about Aiden, their shared conversation about literature, and Aiden’s beautiful singing voice. A visit to London gives Jochen the opportunity to search for Aiden, but he’s shocked at what he finds...
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