Book Releases: Ownvoices M/M books of January-June 2020

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that more m/m books come out each year compared to f/f ones. This is not to say that there aren’t a lot of sapphic books, though! And if you think otherwise, take a look at Charlotte’s posts of this year releases: part one & part two. But this is not really my point.

My point is that a vast majority of the m/m books are actually written by women. Very often straight women. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that, per se, those can still be good books. (They very often don’t offer good, respectful gay representation, but that’s a whole other conversation.)

It got me thinking, though. How many books written by mlm authors were published this year? Turns out not that many… Which only means we should support them all the more.

See also: ownvoices m/m books of July-December 2020, of January-June 2021 & of July-December 2021.

JANUARY

The American People: Volume 2 by Larry Kramer (m/m relationship)
Cleanness by Garth Greenwell (m/m relationship)
19 Love Songs by David Levithan (gay mcs; short stories)
Infinity Son by Adam Silvera (Puerto Rican gay mc, Dominican-American mlm mc)
Haskell Himself by Gary Seigel (gay mc)

The Otto Digmore Decision by Brent Hartinger (m/m relationship)
A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen (gay mcs)
Police Brutality by Gregory Ashe (m/m relationship)
Unraveling by Rick R. Reed (m/m relationship)
Troublemaker by Sean Ashcroft (bi mcs)

Winter Masquerade by Kevin Klehr (m/m relationship)
Sky Full of Mysteries by Rick R. Reed (m/m relationship)
Hard Angle by Cole McCade (m/m relationship)

FEBRUARY

The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper (mlm mc, Black mlm li)
King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender (Black gay mc, gay side character) tw child abuse of side character, discussions of homophobia and racism
Wranglestone by Darren Charlton (gay mc & li)
Middle School’s A Drag, You Better Werk by Greg Howard (gay mc)
I Know You Know Who I Am by Peter Kispert (gay characters; short stories)

The Blood-Dimmed Tide by Michael R. Johnston (mlm mc)
Real Life by Brandon Taylor (Black gay mc)
Firewatching by Russ Thomas (gay mc, mlm & wlw side characters) tw homophobia, past rape, descriptions of child abuse & rape
A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner (gay mc)
First Moon by Richard Amos (m/m relationship)

Jeff, Karma, and Me by Jere’ M. Fishback (gay mc, bi mc)
Trials by Sean Ian O’Meidhir & Connal Braginsky (m/m relationship)
Deep Spiral by Cole McCade (m/m relationship)

MARCH

Above and Beyond by Andrew Grey (m/m relationship)
The Mixtape to My Life by Jake Martinez (Mexican-American gay mc)
I’ll See You Again by Chris Bedell (bi mc)
Russ Morgan, PI by Lloyd A. Meeker (m/m relationship)
Heartbreaker by Sean Ashcroft (m/m relationship)

This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples (m/m relationship)
Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones (gay mc)
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune (m/m relationship)
The Charms of Death by Richard Amos (m/m relationship)

APRIL

Catch of a Lifetime by Andrew Grey (m/m relationship)
The Last Dance by John Inman (mlm mcs)
The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels (gay mc)
Fin & Rye & Fireflies by Harry Cook (gay mc) tw outing, conversion therapy
Rainbow Milk by Paul Mendez (Black gay mc)

Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jędrowski (Polish gay mc & li)
The Less Than Spectacular Times of Henry Milch by Marshall Thornton (gay mc)
The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle by Neil Blackmore (gay mc)
A Family Affair by Rob Loveless (gay mc)
Always There by Leaving by Lou Dellaguzzo (gay mc)

MAY

Meet Cute Club by Jack Harbon (Black gay mc, gay mc)
Hard Road Back by Andrew Grey (m/m relationship)
Risktaker by Sean Ashcroft (m/m relationship)
Burn by Patrick Ness (gay mc, Guatemalan Canadian gay li)
The Unbelievable Oliver and the Sawed-in-Half Dads by Pseudonymous Bosch & Shane Pangburn (gay fathers)

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender (Black trans mlm demiboy mc, Black Bengali mlm li, lesbian sc, mixed-race Black, Puerto Rican & white gay sc, poc sapphic sc, sapphic sc, gay sc, nonbinary sc) tw transphobia (exposing old pictures and deadname, transphobic messages), mentions of past emotional abuse, absent parent
The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulos (gay mc)
Date Me, Bryson Keller! by Kevin van Whye (mixed-race Black & white gay mc, mlm li, gay side character) tw homophobia, bullying, fights, outing, another very public outing, unsupportive parents
The Thing About Alice by Jean-Luke Swanepoel (gay mc)
Camp by L.C. Rosen (gay Jewish mc, half-Korean gay Jewish li, Middle Eastern gay Jewish sc, demi lesbian sc, Afro-Brazilian-American sapphic sc, Black trans sc, nonbinary sc, gay scs)

The Hideaway Inn by Philip William Stover (m/m relationship)
The Magnificent Sons by Justin Myers (gay mc, bi mc, trans side character)
Hideous Beauty by William Hussey (m/m relationship) tw rape
Wayward by Gregory Ashe (m/m relationship)

JUNE

Tiramisu After Midnight by Mark David Campbell (gay mc)
Where We Go From Here by Lucas Rocha (Brazilian cast and setting, gay mcs, HIV positive mcs, gay side characters, drag queen side characters; translation)
Boy Oh Boy by Zachary Doss (gay characters; short stories)
The State of Us by Shaun David Hutchinson (gay demi mc, Mexican-American gay li)
Chaos Moon by Richard Amos (m/m relationship)

You Brought Me the Ocean by Alex Sanchez & Julia Maroh (Black gay mc, Asian-American gay li)
Broken People by Sam Lansky (gay mc with anxiety and depression)
We’re Here, We’re Here by K. M. Szpara (trans mlm mc, mlm li)
Every Summer Day by Lee Patton (m/m relationship)
Fall Out by C. G. Moore (gay mc)

Freedom by E. Davies (m/m relationship, trans li)
I Will Be Okay by Bill Elenbark (m/m relationship)
Just Like That by Cole McCade (mlm mc with anxiety, Japanese-American bi/pan mc with PTSD) tw grief, death of loved one (past), panic attacks, suicidal ideation, bullying
The Riddles of Mulberry Island by Huston Piner (gay mc)

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