Books like 'In the Ring'

Readers who enjoyed In the Ring by James Lear also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

gay romance  sports  suspense  mystery  queer

  • Domestic Animals by Gregory Ashe

    Domestic Animals by Gregory Ashe

    Rated: 4.61 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 12 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...
  • The Hitman's Guide to Righting Wrongs While Causing Mayhem by Alice Winters

    The Hitman's Guide to Righting Wrongs While Causing Mayhem by Alice Winters

    Rated: 4.53 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Leland: Growing up, I was taught that getting too close to someone would be my downfall. But I’ve proven that wrong now that I’m happily married to Jackson, the greatest man in the world. The issue is that mayhem always seems to find me (which is definitely not my fault), and this time, it comes in the form of a woman looking for her daughter...
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  • Dirty Heart by Rhys Ford

    Dirty Heart by Rhys Ford

    Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    A Cole McGinnis Mystery Former LAPD detective Cole McGinnis’s life nearly ended the day his police partner and best friend Ben Pirelli emptied his service weapon into Cole and his then-lover, Rick. Since Ben turned his gun on himself, Cole thought he’d never find out why Ben tried to destroy him. Years later, Cole has stitched himself back together...
  • Ignite by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Ignite by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 12 ratings
    Two of Noah’s Army buddies are dead. Someone has taken shots at Noah. And now Noah’s former lover, JB, is a target. Noah, Rowe, and JB team up to track down a killer trying to take out all of Noah’s old Army team in hopes of covering up a dark secret. But this trip to Washington, D.C. threatens to unravel the perfect life that Rowe and Noah have built over the past three years...
  • His Fateful Heap of Days by John Wiltshire

    His Fateful Heap of Days by John Wiltshire

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Into his fateful heap of days the soul of man is cast. Only a few months from his fiftieth year, Nikolas is feeling a distinct wobble in his formidable certainties. Aleksey Primakov appears to have become irrelevant. All he needs, therefore, is to be dragged into an adventure with Devon's answer to the three musketeers...
  • The Magnolia Murders by Aimee Nicole Walker

    The Magnolia Murders by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 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...
  • Father Complex by Gregory Ashe

    Father Complex by Gregory Ashe

    Rated: 4.48 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Having a father can be hard. Being a good one might be even harder.The call-out for the double homicide, when it comes, is a strange one: two men gunned down in a motel room, no witnesses, no real clues. Even stranger, the men were enemies, and no one seems to know why they were in that motel room together...
  • Killer Honeymoon by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Killer Honeymoon by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Honeymoon, happily ever after, and…homicide?Newlyweds, Royce Locke and Sawyer Key, embark on a honeymoon road trip where their biggest threat should be dodging drunk tourists on golf carts. But their arrival on South Bass Island lands them in the middle of a contentious battle between lifelong islanders and a property developer who won’t accept no for an answer...
  • Chain Reaction by Nicole Edwards

    Chain Reaction by Nicole Edwards

    Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 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: 4.67 of 5 stars
    · 6 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...
  • Blaze by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Blaze by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 13 ratings
    The rings have been selected. The champagne placed on ice. The cake decorated. And the pre-wedding sex is off the charts... Lucas Vallois and Andrei Hadeon are finally ready to walk down the aisle. There’s just one small problem. A ghost from Lucas’s past shows up days before the wedding, desperate for help...
  • Black Moon: MM Romantic Suspense by Elle Keaton

    Black Moon: MM Romantic Suspense by Elle Keaton

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    One corpse, two corpse, old corpse, new corpse.Summer is crashing into fall and Mat and Niall have a wedding to overthink.A body is discovered floating in the harbor and this time it's the missing ex-Piedras Marine officer Duane Copper...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  m-m  contemporary  length-medium
  • Reinventing Cato by Barbara Elsborg

    Reinventing Cato by Barbara Elsborg

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    Fate is not always written in the stars…Being headhunted by NASA might be his ultimate dream, but Cato’s life still sucks. He’s tired of anonymous one-night stands. He’s tired of being lonely. And, frankly, he’s tired of himself. As the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, he realises the only thing to do if he wants to be happy is to reinvent himself...
  • Body and Soul by Patricia Logan

    Body and Soul by Patricia Logan

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    More than ten years ago, a series of train bombings devastated railways throughout Europe. Strange poetry sent to local newspapers right before each bombing, confounded investigators at the time. In one of only a handful of failed covert missions, Jarrett had been sent into North Korea to take out the bomber...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  queer  m-m  contemporary  length-medium
  • Pretty Poison (Sinister in Savannah Book3) by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Pretty Poison (Sinister in Savannah Book3) by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Redemption seeker. Chameleon. Damaged heart.By day, Rocky Jacobs is a private investigator. By night, he produces Sinister in Savannah, a true-crime podcast, with his two best friends. Rocky’s life revolves around three principles: possessing skill is better than having luck, a man’s reputation is everything, and there’s no sacrifice too great for those you love...
  • Rialto by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Rialto by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 9 ratings
    Someone has it out for Rialto.  Ian Banner is loving his hectic life. He’s newly married, ready to start a family, and opening a new restaurant. All his dreams are coming true. The last thing he needs is a problem with his restaurant.  But when one attack after another comes, he grows convinced he has another enemy...
  • Bad at Love by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Bad at Love by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 9 ratings
    Bad at making decisions or bad at love? Either way, Kendall Blakemore doesn’t trust his judgment. He falls too hard, too fast, and always for the wrong guy. Needing a major shakeup, Kendall moves into his own place for the first time and seizes a new career opportunity. But everything he thought he wanted turns out to be the last thing he needs...
  • Fair Play by Josh Lanyon

    Fair Play by Josh Lanyon

    Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 21 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...
  • The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian

    The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian

    Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 24 ratings
    England, 1948: Semi-retired spy Leo Page and country doctor James Sommers team up to solve a decades-old mystery.When James learns that an uncle he hasn’t heard from in ages has left him something in his will, he figures that the least he can do is head down to Cornwall for a weekend to honor the old man’s parting wishes...
  • Mr. Perfect by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Mr. Perfect by Aimee Nicole Walker

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 13 ratings
    Word-slinger. Purveyor of truth. Jaded heart.By day, Felix Franklin is an investigative journalist. By night, he produces Sinister in Savannah, an investigative podcast, with his two best friends. Felix’s life revolves around three principles: fortune favors the bold, honesty is everything, and love is for schmucks...
  • School of Fish by Amy Lane

    School of Fish by Amy Lane

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Jackson Rivers has been learning how to take care of himself so he can be there for Ellery Cramer, but after eight weeks of healing, body and soul, he’s itching to get back to work. Finally Ellery gives him a simple task: pick up a file on a kid who probably didn’t commit murder but who refuses to participate in his own defense.Nothing is ever that easy...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  m-m  contemporary  length-medium
  • Year of the Rat by Marshall Thornton

    Year of the Rat by Marshall Thornton

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Long Beach, California 1996. Despite having little obvious experience, bartender Dom Reilly is hired as an investigator for the Freedom Agenda, a not-for-profit justice project. His first case involves a twelve-year-old homicide, in which a teenage girl was viciously murdered...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  queer  m-m  historical  length-short
  • Off Course by Nicole Edwards

    Off Course by Nicole Edwards

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 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...
  • The Spoil of Beasts by Gregory Ashe

    The Spoil of Beasts by Gregory Ashe

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    A jailhouse slaughter. A relentless killer. And way too much jackassing around. When word comes that two key witnesses in an investigation are dead, North and Shaw are surprised—and pleased—to learn that their friend, John-Henry Somerset, is interested in hiring them as freelance contractors for the Wahredua police department...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  queer  suspense  m-m  contemporary  length-short
  • Enduring Night by John Wiltshire

    Enduring Night by John Wiltshire

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 7 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...
  • Hide & Seek (Brantley Walker: Off the Books Book 3) by Nicole Edwards

    Hide & Seek (Brantley Walker: Off the Books Book 3) by Nicole Edwards

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    With the holidays nearing, Brantley Walker and Reese Tavoularis are getting settled, both personally and professionally. For Reese, dealing with Brantley’s about-face regarding the size of the task force is easy. It’s meeting the parents that he’s worried about...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  military  m-m  length-medium
  • Long Shadow by Elle Keaton

    Long Shadow by Elle Keaton

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Niall’s known nothing but betrayal. All Mat wants is Niall’s heart; what will it take for him to coax Niall in from the cold? Mat's connection with Niall is tenuous. One step forward, two steps back. Since that night on the beach Niall's been avoiding Mat like a bad case of the flu--which, ironically, most of his deputies have come down with...
  • Roman by Annabella Stone

    Roman by Annabella Stone

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Fact: Six years ago, former Force Recon Marine Roman Walsh made the biggest mistake of his life and chose duty to his country over love. Fact: He was an idiot. Now the one he loves is missing, and Roman has only one thing on his mind. Get him back alive...
  • Thunder and Lightning by Patricia Logan

    Thunder and Lightning by Patricia Logan

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Jarrett Evans and Thayne Wolfe have been partnered in the ATF for nearly two years and their love and commitment to each other has grown over time. Now faced with one final challenge, the boys are headed to Arizona to help Thayne’s mom, stumbling headfirst into a brand new case...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  m-m  contemporary  angst  length-long
  • The Only Gold by Tamara Allen

    The Only Gold by Tamara Allen

    Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Jonah Woolner's life is as prudently regulated as the bank where he works. It's a satisfying life until he's passed over for promotion in favor of newcomer Reid Hylliard. Brash and enterprising, Reid beguiles everyone except Jonah, who's convinced Reid's progressive ideas will be the bank's ruin...
  • A Dangerous Dance by Davidson King

    A Dangerous Dance by Davidson King

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 9 ratings
    Finally working for a man he can trust has given Bill a new purpose. His boss, Christopher Manos, commands respect and absolute loyalty, and Bill has proven himself worthy of a seat at Christopher’s table. Becoming best friends with Christopher’s husband, Snow, has further proven his allegiance and cements a place for him in the Manos family...
  • How Not to Break by Susan Hawke

    How Not to Break by Susan Hawke

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 9 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...
  • Skeletons in the Closet by Nicky James

    Skeletons in the Closet by Nicky James

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 11 ratings
    The last thing Diem Krause wanted to do was ask for Tallus’s help. The too-hot-for-his-own-good records clerk was so far outside Diem’s league that he became tongue-tied in his presence. Six months ago, after an embarrassingly unimpressive exchange in the bedroom that accentuated Diem’s flaws, he swore never to go near the sultry man again...
  • Forever by Tinnean

    Forever by Tinnean

    Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Lately, life is both sweet and sour for intelligence operatives Mark Vincent and Quinton Mann. The sweet is they’re settling into a relationship; Mark has found a condo in Alexandria with the help of Quinn’s mother, Portia; and Mark and Quinn are looking forward to spending the holidays in the Caribbean. As for the sour, something shadier than usual is going on at Langley...
  • A Trail of Fire by Diana Gabaldon

    A Trail of Fire by Diana Gabaldon

    Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    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...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  war  m-m  historical  georgian  length-medium
  • All That Remains by R.J. Scott

    All That Remains by R.J. Scott

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 11 ratings
    Federal Agent Lucas Beaumont has an agenda—get himself assigned to the case of the apparent serial murders at Lancaster Falls, find out who the murderer is, and then lay the ghosts that haunt his grandfather to rest. In the midst of a horrific murder investigation, the only peace he gets is from simple moments in a warm kitchen, talking to hotel owner, Josh...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  m-m  contemporary  length-medium
  • Stranger on the Shore by Josh Lanyon

    Stranger on the Shore by Josh Lanyon

    Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 18 ratings
    Twenty years ago young Brian Arlington, heir to Arlington fortune, was kidnapped. Though the ransom was paid, the boy was never seen again and is presumed dead. Pierce Mather, the family lawyer, now administers and controls the Arlington billions. He's none too happy, and more than a little suspicious, when investigative journalist Griffin Hadley shows up to write about the decades-old mystery...
  • Indirection by Gregory Ashe

    Indirection by Gregory Ashe

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Rabid readers. Backbiting authors. A romance convention from hell.Shaw Aldrich and his best friend, boyfriend, and partner, North McKinney, are doing great, thanks. The aftermath of their search for the Slasher has finally settled down. Their private investigation agency is thriving. And after years of missed opportunities, they’re finally together...
  • Killer Bond by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Killer Bond by Jocelynn Drake, Rinda Elliott

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Daniel Hendricks wants a vacation. Ward Security’s accountant and resident code breaker just needs a little R&R from the chaos and usual shenanigans of the office. But what was supposed to be a sexy vacation hook-up explodes in his face when he’s mistaken for a rogue secret agent...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  queer  m-m  insta-love  contemporary
  • Cops and Comix by Rhys Ford

    Cops and Comix by Rhys Ford

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 5 ratings
    A Murder and Mayhem Short It’s all fun and games until someone leaves a dead body on the floor. Life for comic book store owner Alex Martin usually runs to the mundane. Sure, he has a regular influx of geeks and freaks, but for the most part, it’s a familiar weird. That all changes when he opens up Planet X Comics one morning and finds a corpse in the middle of his shop...
  • North and Shaw: Out of Office: Volume 2 by Gregory Ashe

    North and Shaw: Out of Office: Volume 2 by Gregory Ashe

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 5 ratings
    Short stories from Borealis: Without a CompassNorth and Shaw: Out of Office Volume 2 is a collection of short stories. It includes the following:“Couple Friends”As a (relatively) new couple, North and Shaw learn what it means to have friends as a couple—and how to be friends in a relationship. This story takes place before Indirection...
  • Bad Idea by Max Walker

    Bad Idea by Max Walker

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Gabriel ‘Fox’ Morrison is starting a brand new chapter in his life. He spent years drifting after his time in the military and finally felt ready to settle in one spot. This leads him to becoming the head detective of the recently opened Stonewall Investigations in Miami...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  m-m  humor  length-medium
  • A New Empire by Layla Reyne

    A New Empire by Layla Reyne

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Legacies were made to be rewritten. Assassin Hawes Madigan wants to do right—by his family, his organization, his city, and the man he’s falling for, ATF agent Christopher Perri. But Hawes’s rules are being challenged by someone willing to kill for the old ways...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  m-m  contemporary  length-short
  • Conspiracy Theory by Elle Keaton

    Conspiracy Theory by Elle Keaton

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Years of grueling police work have left Niall Hamarsson jaded and disillusioned with life…although it’s likely he’s been that way all along. The last straw lands when the DA refuses to try a case Niall worked for years to bring to justice. Within hours he finds himself heading to the only place he’s ever been able to call home—a place he knows he doesn’t belong...
    Categorized as:
    mystery  suspense  queer  m-m  abuse  contemporary  length-short
  • Real Danger by Elle Keaton

    Real Danger by Elle Keaton

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    How can one man be so incredibly frustrating but so sexy at the same time?Ryder knows two things. Tragedy can strike at any moment so you have to hold tightly to the gifts life gives you. And, Shay is one of those gifts. To Ryder their fifteen-year age difference is nothing, Shay is the man he wants. Now he just needs an opportunity to plead his case with the sexy lawyer...
  • Honor by Reese Knightley

    Honor by Reese Knightley

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    They really are perfect for each other with zero bullshit between them.Oliver Rains joined Pegasus after the military to keep doing what he loves—helping out the innocent and putting scumbags in the ground where they belong. He was supposed to find a new team, not fall in love, but what he hadn’t counted on was former chief of police Parker Johnson walking into his life...
  • Dirty Bites by Rhys Ford

    Dirty Bites by Rhys Ford

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    **FREE HOLIDAY DOWNLOAD FROM RHYS FORD, GREG TREMBLAY AND DREAMSPINNER PRESS**Danger. Desire. Loss. Love.In every story, there are a thousand more bound up and waiting to be told; here are just a few from the Cole McGinnis Mysteries...
  • Zenith by Eli Easton, R.J. Scott

    Zenith by Eli Easton, R.J. Scott

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    A killer haunts Prophet, and this time it’s personalThe discovery of a body at the Thompson Cabins sets off a chain of events that hits too close to home for Sheriff Gabriel Thompson. When his brother Sam becomes a prime suspect in the murder investigation, Gabriel is forced to keep secrets from Tiber and call in outside help as he fights to prove Sam’s innocence...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  m-m  contemporary
  • Thirst for You by Jaclyn Quinn

    Thirst for You by Jaclyn Quinn

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    What happens when thirst becomes an obsession that can’t be quenched? Forty-year-old Zachariah Taylor prides himself on being the overprotective older brother of seven. He owns a successful bar, Zach’s Bar and Grill, in the quiet town of Riverside Falls and loves the life he’s built for himself...
  • Skin and Bone by T.A. Moore

    Skin and Bone by T.A. Moore

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    Digging Up Bones: Book Two Cloister Witte and his K-9 partner, Bourneville, find the lost and bring them home. But the job doesn’t always end there. Janet Morrow, a young trans woman, lies in a coma after wandering away from her car during a storm. But just because Cloister found the young tourist doesn’t mean she’s home...
    Categorized as:
    suspense  mystery  queer  m-m  contemporary  length-medium
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