Books like 'Return to Zero'

Readers who enjoyed Return to Zero by Isobel Starling also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  gay romance  queer  suspense  military  mystery  queer-awakening  age difference  bdsm  angst 

  • Stars & Stripes by Abigail Roux

    Stars & Stripes by Abigail Roux

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 83 ratings
    Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have managed the impossible: a few months of peace and quiet. After nearly a year of personal and professional turmoil, they're living together conflict-free, work is going smoothly, and they're both happy, healthy, and home every night before dark. But anyone who knows them knows that can’t possibly last...
  • Armed & Dangerous by Abigail Roux

    Armed & Dangerous by Abigail Roux

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 90 ratings
    Left alone in Baltimore after his unpredictable lover bails, Special Agent Zane Garrett takes his frustration out on everything in his path until he is ordered to Chicago to back up an undercover operative. When he gets there, though, he finds himself face to face with his wayward partner, Special Agent Ty Grady...
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  • Interlude: First Noel by Tal Bauer

    Interlude: First Noel by Tal Bauer

    Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 30 ratings
    Before Ethan returns to DC… Before he becomes Jack’s first gentleman… Jack and Ethan share their first Christmas together. Step back to Jack and Ethan’s first Christmas season and the tentative early months of their relationship under the world’s spotlight...
  • Fish & Chips by Abigail Roux

    Fish & Chips by Abigail Roux

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 103 ratings
    This romance is entering rough waters.After almost dying on their hiking trip, Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have a moratorium on the word vacation. This makes it hard to discuss their newest case: an undercover operation aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean...
  • Divide & Conquer by Abigail Roux

    Divide & Conquer by Abigail Roux

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 92 ratings
    The last place these men want to be is in the limelight. Law enforcement in Baltimore has a PR problem. Robberies, bombings, and violent crimes are on the rise. The public wants something done, and even the FBI is catching blame. When Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett accidentally become the handsome faces of the counter-offense, they find themselves the center of attention from the media...
  • The Grave Between Us by Tal Bauer

    The Grave Between Us by Tal Bauer

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 41 ratings
    It was just one moment.It was just one mistake.For years, men have been disappearing. A father in North Carolina. A boater in California. A hiker in Arkansas. And more, scattered across the United States. The FBI knows who’s responsible: a serial killer they caught, a man they sent young profiler Cole Kennedy to interrogate...
  • The Bruise-Black Sky by John Wiltshire

    The Bruise-Black Sky by John Wiltshire

    Rated: 4.51 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 21 ratings
    Ben usually overlooks Nikolas's occasionally jarring dissonance. Not this time. A deep rift, a terrible lie, separates them. Eleven thousand miles from Nikolas, in New Zealand, it's bitter winter as Ben films the tragic story of a post-apocalyptic gladiator, a victim of his own personal darkness. But on receiving a death threat, Ben suspects the truth of actor Oliver Whitestone's suicide...
  • Domestic Animals by Gregory Ashe

    Domestic Animals by Gregory Ashe

    Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 2 of 5
    Behind closed doors [?] · 18 ratings
    Sometimes, the most dangerous animals are the ones you let inside.When a man hires Emery Hazard to track down a teenager who, he claims, robbed him, Hazard isn’t convinced. The story has holes in it, and the client seems eager—too eager—to keep the authorities from getting involved. But Hazard is willing to play along; he suspects something much darker is going on, and he wants to know what it is...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  angst  queer  m-m  contemporary  behind-doors
  • Breaking Cover by Kaje Harper

    Breaking Cover by Kaje Harper

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 38 ratings
    For homicide detective Mac, it's been a good year. Having Tony to go home to makes him a better cop and a better person. For Tony, it's been hard being in love with a man he can't touch in public. Evasions and outright lying to friends and family take a little of the shine off his relationship with Mac, but Tony is determined to make it work...
  • The Magnolia Murders by Aimee Nicole Walker

    The Magnolia Murders by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Rated: 4.68 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 12 ratings
    Everything old is new again in love and murder.Work together, live together, and play together is the name of the game for Royce Locke and Sawyer Key. But one of those things changes when Chief Mendoza taps Sawyer to lead the newly formed cold case unit. His first task: solve the Magnolia Murders that spanned three decades and suddenly stopped in 2000...
  • A Chosen Man by Jaime Reese

    A Chosen Man by Jaime Reese

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    For Wall McCormack, actions speak louder than words. He’s giving and protective, loyal to his friends, and devoted to his job. While confident and powerful enough to conquer any challenge, his greatest strength lies in his calm nature. Until an unexpected assignment sends his world into a loud and colorful chaos he never could have anticipated. Rejection...
  • Enduring Night by John Wiltshire

    Enduring Night by John Wiltshire

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting. Nikolas has always liked art. You'd have thought that Ben and Nikolas would have learnt that their romantic holidays inevitably end up as disasters. A short break on the polar ice sees them trapped in a nightmare of murder and deceit...
  • Craft Brew by Layla Reyne

    Craft Brew by Layla Reyne

    Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 11 ratings
    Assistant US attorney Dominic Price is staring down the barrel of his father’s debts. The bull’s-eye on his back makes him a threat to everyone he cares about, so when his lover wants to go public with their relationship, he bolts. Not because he isn’t in love—he can’t stomach the thought of putting Cam in danger...
  • Somebody to Cherish by April Wilson

    Somebody to Cherish by April Wilson

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 10 ratings
    Tyler and Ian are embarking on their new venture as private investigators. After they solve their first case, they celebrate by taking a road trip to Key West. Their objective: fun and relaxation in the sun. Unfortunately, fate has something else in store for them. When a guest at the hotel where they're staying goes missing, they can't just sit by and do nothing...
  • Off Course by Nicole Edwards

    Off Course by Nicole Edwards

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    From New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Nicole Edwards comes the ninth installment in her Brantley Off the Books series. With wedding plans underway, Brantley Walker and Reese Tavoularis are attempting to create some balance between work and life. After a busy summer, they’ve finally slowed down enough to take a breather. At least until the hacker extraordinaire—a.k.a...
  • Chain Reaction by Nicole Edwards

    Chain Reaction by Nicole Edwards

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    From 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...
  • Castiel by Annabella Stone

    Castiel by Annabella Stone

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    What once was strong is broken.Can what was broken be repaired?Former SEAL and Operative for the US Government’s elite Red Squadron, Castiel Cunningham Clark has defied the odds more times than he can count. He learned the hard way how fickle fate can be and he’s made it his business to live his life at one speed and one speed only… full steam ahead. Except when it comes to one person...
  • Noble Hops by Layla Reyne

    Noble Hops by Layla Reyne

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 9 ratings
    Everything Dominic Price has worked hard to uphold is about to come crashing down on everything he holds dear. So much for the quiet life. Just as assistant US attorney and brewery owner Dominic Price is settling into a comfy new chapter with his partner, FBI agent Cameron Byrne, the sudden death of Nic’s father puts their happily-ever-after in jeopardy...
  • Bulletproof by Mary Calmes

    Bulletproof by Mary Calmes

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 38 ratings
    Jory Harcourt doesn't have to go looking for trouble. Wherever he goes, it seems to find him—particularly when his partner, Sam Kage, is working undercover on a federal task force. After the recession forces him to close his business, Jory goes to work as a matchmaker and event planner...
  • Balanced and Tied by Mary Calmes

    Balanced and Tied by Mary Calmes

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 20 ratings
    Deputy US Marshal Eli Kohn is doing fine. As the Director of Public Affairs for the Northern District, he represents the USMS in Chicago and that suits him. Yes, it’s wearing to always be on, to smile and wave even in the face of adversity, but he’s good at his job, and no one ever sees him sweat. His personal life, though, has been stagnant, and that doesn’t seem likely to change...
  • Red Flagged by Elle Keaton

    Red Flagged by Elle Keaton

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Ex-US Marshal turned Cooper Springs Chief of Police, Andre Dear isn’t looking for love. He’s too busy hunting a killer. The last person Andre expected to see in Cooper Springs was Dante Castone. He left Dante and the rest of his old life behind him when he moved to Washington State and what he thought would be a quiet job in a small town by the ocean...
  • Fair Play by Josh Lanyon

    Fair Play by Josh Lanyon

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 32 ratings
    Fifty years ago, Roland Mills belonged to a violent activist group. Now, someone is willing to kill to prevent him from publishing his memoirs. When ex-FBI agent Elliot Mills is called out to examine the charred ruins of his childhood home, he quickly identifies the fire for what it is--arson...
  • Zero Divergence by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Zero Divergence by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 26 ratings
    Zero Divergence, noun: no deviation from a course or standard. After a key piece of evidence goes missing, a suspected serial rapist and killer evades prosecution. More than Royce Locke’s reputation is on the line when his investigation into the failed chain of custody suggests Franco Humphries might’ve had inside help...
  • Obsessed by Sloane Kennedy

    Obsessed by Sloane Kennedy

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    I wanted him from the moment I laid eyes on him and from that point on, the question wasn’t if I’d have him but when…Thirty-five-year-old Matias de la Vega is good at one thing and one thing only...
  • Thuggiana by Gregory Ashe

    Thuggiana by Gregory Ashe

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Pics, or it didn’t happen.Thuggiana is a collection of short stories connected to The First Quarto. It includes the following:“The Slightest Folly”This prequel provides a glimpse into Auggie’s and Theo’s lives in high school. It takes place before They Told Me I Was Everything.“As School-Boys from Their Books”A series of vignettes set shortly after the events of They Told Me I Was Everything...
  • Trajectory by Cole McCade

    Trajectory by Cole McCade

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    Rising tensions between Malcolm, Seong-Jae, and Aanga Joshi reach a tipping point — and send our devilish duo on a rogue mission. Mal and Seong-Jae are off the radar, off the rails, and determined to track down the connection between Sila and the Golden Ratio Killer, no matter who stands in their way.One way or another, they'll put a name and a face to the nightmare.One way or another..
  • Common Ground by R.J. Moray

    Common Ground by R.J. Moray

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Why can't you have your cake and eat it too?Channon belongs to Jack—that's just a fact. But they aren't an island, and if Channon's going to get the happy-ever-after he wants, Jack's going to have to bury the hatchet with (and not in) the one other person in Channon's life whose disapproval matters...
  • Hot Wings by Eli Easton, Tara Lain

    Hot Wings by Eli Easton, Tara Lain

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 26 ratings
    The alpha meets his match.Most macho of all the super-alpha Canali brothers and proud of it, Donny’s famous for his gorgeous face, his firefighter prowess, and for going through girls his family doesn’t approve of as fast as he changes jeans.Donny’s biggest hero is his fire captain dad, until his life gets saved from the skies by fire pilot Dell Murphy.Dell’s certain about most things...
  • How Not to Break by Susan Hawke

    How Not to Break by Susan Hawke

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Take one former SEAL with a healthy dose of regret… Nick St. Cloud is living with shame from the one time he let his lust override his sense of honor. He’s haunted by the memory of when he made love to his best friend’s eighteen-year-old son. The tragic accident that happened that same night has only compounded his guilt...
  • Cross & Crown by Abigail Roux

    Cross & Crown by Abigail Roux

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 38 ratings
    When Nick O'Flaherty arrives at the scene of a double homicide to find he has a witness to the crime, he thinks it’s his lucky day. But when he realizes his witness is suffering from amnesia and can’t even remember his own name, Nick wishes he’d gone with his gut and put in for vacation time...
  • Diamond in the Rough by Charlie Cochet

    Diamond in the Rough by Charlie Cochet

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 36 ratings
    When the cards are stacked against you, the Kings will even the odds. For Ward “King” Kingston the role of protector, forged by fire and tragedy, is one he takes seriously. When King is asked to safeguard the son of a four-star general and friend, he is pulled back into the world of government black ops on a mission that raises painful memories from his past...
  • Somebody to Love by April Wilson

    Somebody to Love by April Wilson

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Chicago homicide detective Tyler Jamison has accepted that fact that he was born defective. Women just don't do it for him, and he can't contemplate any other option. So, loneliness it is. Ian Alexander has met the man of his dreams, but the guy's in complete denial of his sexuality. Ian's not giving up on Tyler, though. Tyler's a domineering, controlling force of nature..
  • Barrel Proof by Layla Reyne

    Barrel Proof by Layla Reyne

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 29 ratings
    Special Agents Talley and Walker’s partnership is tested as they come face-to-face with the enemy who threatens to rip their world apart in this final book of Layla Reyne’s Agents Irish & Whiskey M/M romantic suspense trilogy. Aidan loves Jamie and wants the bright future he was robbed of before...
  • A Matter of Time Book II by Mary Calmes

    A Matter of Time Book II by Mary Calmes

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 31 ratings
    Jory Keyes is doing his best to get over Detective Sam Kage, who broke his heart. Fearful of coming out of the closet, Sam intended to marry and uphold the status quo. After testifying against the man he saw commit cold-blooded murder, Jory is sure he and the detective will never cross paths again. But fate has other plans...
  • Shades of Gray by Brooke McKinley

    Shades of Gray by Brooke McKinley

    Rated: 4.09 of 5 stars
    · 40 ratings
    Miller Sutton, a by-the-book FBI agent, is starting to see some troubling shades of gray in his black-and-white world. He comes face-to-face with his doubts in the person of Danny Butler, a mid-level drug runner Miller hopes to use to catch a much larger fish: Roberto Hinestroza, a drug lord Miller has pursued for years...
  • Without Warning by Reese Knightley

    Without Warning by Reese Knightley

    Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 23 ratings
    What the hell do you do when life changes on a dime without warning? Ryder Freeman- His job is to keep Harrison safe from a stalker and one step ahead of the paparazzi. That’s it! The hotter than hell young billionaire is forbidden fruit and crossing that line is not an option...
  • Tempest by Lisa Henry, J.A. Rock

    Tempest by Lisa Henry, J.A. Rock

    Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Something wicked this way comes. FBI Agent Ryan “Mac” McGuinness and con man Henry Page are on the run again. This time they’re headed back to where it all began: Altona, Indiana. Population: some goats. Henry’s not happy about lying low at the McGuinness family farm, but they’ve got nowhere else to go...
  • A Matter of Time Book III by Mary Calmes

    A Matter of Time Book III by Mary Calmes

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 29 ratings
    Three years have passed since Jory Keyes was kidnapped, shot, and left by his lover, Detective Sam Kage. Jory walked through fire and came out the other side stronger. He changed his name to Harcourt and shut the door forever on a past full of pain. Jory now owns his own business, and has a life he enjoys. What he doesn’t have is love...
  • Xavier by Silvia Violet

    Xavier by Silvia Violet

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    I thought I was straight.I thought protecting my identity mattered more than anything besides family.Then Emilio came to me for protection.It's my fault he’s in danger, and no one is going to touch him.No one besides me...
  • And So We See Darkly by Cole McCade

    And So We See Darkly by Cole McCade

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    COP KILLER.That's the accusation scrawled on the home of a dead man, found executed in his own bedroom. That's the tawdry headline thrown around every news channel, every social media feed, every conversation taking over Baltimore.That's the name given to a man who may have been innocent, but never had the chance to prove it — and now Malcolm and Seong-Jae must solve his murder...
  • Gently Come Knocking by Cole McCade

    Gently Come Knocking by Cole McCade

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    ** Warning: the following description contains heavy spoilers for the ending of Criminal Intentions: Season Two. ** Malcolm Khalaji is one paternity test away from a breakdown. When a one-night stand from a year ago shows up on his doorstep, she's bringing more than a trip down memory lane — and her little bundle of joy may just be a bundle of trouble if it turns out the baby is actually his...
  • Silent Knight by Layla Reyne

    Silent Knight by Layla Reyne

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    I won’t let anything happen to you. Fourteen years ago, Braxton Kane’s feelings were forbidden.As an officer, he couldn’t fall for an enlisted… no matter how much he longed for Holt Madigan.Now—as a police chief in love with a digital assassin—his promise to always protect Holt is becoming harder to keep. I’ll protect you...
  • War of the Wicked by Davidson King, Morningstar Ashley

    War of the Wicked by Davidson King, Morningstar Ashley

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Lucifer’s Landing is full of unscrupulous people: five families desperate to own every inch. For years, under the watchful and most powerful eye, there has been peace. With the murder of the most powerful man, it’s as if the gates of Hell have opened.Dante Scavo is trying to fill his father’s shoes, find the person responsible for killing him, and stop Lucifer’s Landing from becoming a war zone...
  • Endings and Beginnings by Patricia Logan

    Endings and Beginnings by Patricia Logan

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Recently married ATF special agents Thayne Wolfe and Jarrett Evans are ready for some normalcy to return to their work in the ATF the way it has at home. They’ve just moved into their new house and neither of them are prepared for their next assignment, being tasked out to the FBI along with the rest of their team...
  • In Sequence by Cole McCade

    In Sequence by Cole McCade

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    ABOUT THIS EPISODE The Golden Ratio killer resurfaces in California to target a former victim, and this time the case takes Malcolm and Seong-Jae hunting deep into his past, searching for connections between victim and killer that may reveal his identity...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  dual-pov  queer  m-m  contemporary
  • Charlie's Doctor by Jocelynn Drake

    Charlie's Doctor by Jocelynn Drake

    Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 15 ratings
    A second chance to say ‘don’t let me go’.When paintings for an artist who disappeared roughly fifty years ago suddenly surface, Charlie and his friends decide it might be worth looking into what really happened. Besides, who isn’t up for adventure and fun in Buenos Aires?But things go horribly sideways when Charlie stumbles across Dr...
  • A Fighting Man by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

    A Fighting Man by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Army Ranger Slater Cassidy has a very special – very sexy – target in his sights. Meeting gorgeous, smart, uber-snarky Casper Kennedy was the highlight of Slater’s last trip home to New York. The soldier in him carefully plans his conquest. Unfortunately, Casper’s wearing some seriously strong armor and Slater’s charm offensives bounce right off...
  • Sadistic Sherlock by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Sadistic Sherlock by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Ten years ago, Dominic Walsh faked his own death. With no true identity, it wasn’t hard. But if he’d stayed, he would have been drawn further into a life he’d never chosen. He has friends and family at Ward Security now and has managed to escape his dark past. There is only one thing he truly wants. Abraham Stephens...
  • Just Say When by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Just Say When by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 17 ratings
    Someone wants Police Chief Emilio Mendoza dead. And if his unknown assailant doesn’t kill him, pining for Sheriff Abraham Beecham just might. Abe and Lio’s thirty-year journey has taken them from heated rivals to best friends with countless labels and pit stops along the way. Romance is the only avenue left unexplored but not from lack of love or desire...
  • The Magician Murders by Josh Lanyon

    The Magician Murders by Josh Lanyon

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 37 ratings
    Nothing up his sleeves. Nothing but murder...Jason West, hot shot special agent with the FBI's Art Crime Team, is recuperating from a recent hit-and-run accident at the Wyoming home of BAU Chief Sam Kennedy when he's asked to aid in the investigation of a suspicious death in a National Forest...
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