Fiction Monday: Top Ten Gay Fiction Books for the Amazon Kindle

Over the weekend, I did a couple of blog posts about the top 10 lesbian fiction books available for the Amazon Kindle (by reader reviews). In the interest of equal time for my gay brothers, I would like to present the top ten, mostly non-smut (why is that so hard to avoid?), gay fiction books available for the Kindle.

Now, there is something I would like to share; men – or gay men, at least – are much more prolific reviewers on Amazon. Pick any two highly rated book, one lesbian leaning and one gay and the gay leaning book will have two or more times the reviews. I don’t know why that is but it makes my work finding great gay books to talk about a lot easier. To the ladies reading…I would say, “Get busy! Write some reviews!”

One interesting fact before we get to the books: A lot of “gay fiction” is written by women. It is intended for both gay men and straight women. These reviews contain a mix of authors at least a few of whom are women who are not necessarily writing for an all gay male audience. I chose to leave the rankings as they fell.

In my Saturday post, I went into detail about how I arrived at the top ten lesbian books. If you’re really interested in the methodology, please see those posts by clicking the link above. In brief, to ferret out the gay fiction books, I sorted the Amazon offerings as thus: books – Kindle – gay and lesbian – fiction – lesbian – 4+stars - reader reviews – 5 or more reader reviews. I added one more criteria for the guys in that I skipped books targeted specifically at teenagers. Here are the ten I got as a result, in order:

Gulliver Travels by Justin Luke Zirilli. An unbelievable 4.9 out of 5 stars with 75 reader ratings as of this writing! The book had 1 single rating below 4 from a reviewer. Actually, I’ve read this one. My review: Gulliver Travels.

Hot Head by Damon Suede. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire…
Since 9/11, Brooklyn firefighter Griff Muir has wrestled with impossible feelings for his best friend and partner at Ladder 181, Dante Anastagio. Unfortunately, Dante is strictly a ladies’ man, and the FDNY isn’t exactly gay-friendly. For ten years, Griff has hidden his heart in a half-life of public heroics and private anguish. Griff’s caution and Dante’s cockiness make them an unbeatable team. To protect his buddy, there’s nothing Griff wouldn’t do… until a nearly bankrupt Dante proposes the worst possible solution: HotHead.com, a gay porn website where uniformed hunks get down and dirty. And Dante wants them to appear there—together. Griff may have to guard his heart and live out his darkest fantasies on camera. Can he rescue the man he loves without wrecking their careers, their families, or their friendship?”

Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy. From the land down under, we get a very popular book: “Football, friends, and film are the most important parts of Simon Murray’s life, likely in that order. Despite being lonely, Simon is cautious about looking for more, and his best friends despair of him ever finding that special someone to share his life. Against his will, they drag him to a party, where Simon barges into a football conversation and ends up defending the honour of star forward Declan Tyler — unaware that the athlete is present and listening. Like his entire family, Simon revels in living in Melbourne, Victoria, the home of Australian Rules football and mecca for serious fans. There, players are deemed gods and treated as such – until they do something to cause them to fall out of public favour. Declan is suffering a horrendous year of injuries, and the public is taking him to task for it, so Simon’s support is a bright spot in his struggles. In that first awkward meeting, neither man has any idea they will change each other’s lives forever. As Simon and Declan fumble toward building a relationship together, there is yet another obstacle in their way: keeping Declan’s homosexuality a secret amidst the intrusion of well-meaning friends and an increasingly suspicious media. They realise that nothing remains hidden forever… and they know the situation will only become more complicated when Declan’s private life is revealed. Declan will be forced to make some tough choices that may result in losing either the career he loves or the man he wants. And Simon has never been known to make things easy – for himself or for others.”

Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville. “After witnessing a mob hit, surgeon Jack Francisco is put into protective custody to keep him safe until he can testify. A hitman known only as D is blackmailed into killing Jack, but when he tracks him down, his weary conscience won’t allow him to murder an innocent man. Finding in each other an unlikely ally, Jack and D are soon on the run from shadowy enemies. Forced to work together to survive, the two men forge a bond that ripens into unexpected passion. Jack sees the wounded soul beneath D’s cold, detached exterior, and D finds in Jack the person who can help him reclaim the man he once was. As the day of Jack’s testimony approaches, he and D find themselves not only fighting for their lives… but also fighting for their future. A future together.”

The Locker Room by Amy Lane. “Xander Karcek has only wanted two things in his life: Christian Edwards and basketball—the man he loves and the game that let him escape a childhood he’d rather forget. His two obsessions have served him well. He and Chris beat the odds and stayed together through high school, college, and right on to the NBA. But life under fame’s microscope isn’t easy, especially when two men are pretending to be frat-buddies so the world doesn’t know they’re the next best thing to married. Their relationship survives the sacrifices they make and the lies they tell to stay together, but when their secret is exposed, the fallout might destroy them when nothing else could. Chris and basketball are the two things holding Xander together. Now the world is asking Xander to make a choice. Is there an option that includes a future with the man he loves?”

Post continued on March 6th, 2012.