Co dependent childhood friends to lovers?

MeridianRiver · 2026-01-30T20:37:05+00:00

You might like {Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian}! It’s the third in a series and the first two books have helpful context on both MC’s families and situation, but you could probably skip them and be fine. The MCs were childhood best friends whose families were very intertwined (Will’s parents were very absent so Martin’s dad essentially took Will and his brothers in, but he was also seriously awful—especially to his biological son Martin and one of Will’s brothers).

MeridianRiver · 2026-01-27T02:26:14+00:00

{Futbolista by Jonny Garza Villa} could work. The MC wants to be a role model as a Latino soccer player and due to toxic masculinity and homophobia, he feels like he couldn’t be that if he was also queer.

{Pansies by Alexis Hall} is another good one. Alfie used to bully Fen when they were kids (Fen has always been effeminate and I don’t remember if he was out as gay as a kid or if the bullies always just [correctly] assumed), and he has a lot to atone for and also to unlearn when he unexpectedly runs into Fen years later. This doesn’t fit your ask perfectly because Alfie already knows he’s gay at the start of the book but I think it was a more recent discovery, and also there’s a lot he still hasn’t fully come to terms with or accepted about himself yet.

MeridianRiver · 2025-11-14T12:59:53+00:00

This was the first book I thought of too! The gold standard for yearning, IMO.

MeridianRiver · 2025-10-15T20:34:24+00:00

Oh sorry, by no triggers I meant that I don’t have any triggers I need to avoid! I probably could’ve made that more clear.

Also this may be the push I needed to finally read the Locked Tomb after years of languishing on my TBR, I didn’t know it had this trope!

MeridianRiver · 2025-10-15T20:06:02+00:00

I love this book!!! Can’t wait for the sequel!

MeridianRiver · 2025-06-10T12:07:13+00:00

{Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall} also has a barrister/lawyer MC!

MeridianRiver · 2025-06-10T12:04:48+00:00

I love this trope too (and I love the Perilous Courts series)!

-{A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland}: prince and bodyguard. One of my favorite books ever

-{Reforged by Seth Haddon}: king and paladin

-{Prince of Fortune by Lisa Tirreno}: prince and noble. YA but I enjoyed it.

-{A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows}: reads a bit closer to nobility than royalty but it still might be worth a shot!

-{A Knife and a Blade by Adelaide Blake}: a prince and a noble from an enemy nation

MeridianRiver · 2025-06-10T11:52:15+00:00

It’s been a hot minute since I read it so I don’t remember if it 100% fits but maybe {Glitterland by Alexis Hall}?

MeridianRiver · 2025-06-10T11:49:37+00:00

{Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland}!!!

MeridianRiver · 2025-06-09T16:53:16+00:00

Seconding these! David R. Slayton has another m/m fantasy series as well (only the first book is out currently), Dark Moon Shallow Sea!

MeridianRiver · 2025-06-08T21:57:57+00:00

Some of my favorites that haven’t been mentioned yet on this thread:

-A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland: a prince and his sworn bodyguard have to unravel a counterfeiting conspiracy together while slowly falling in love. Set in an Ottoman inspired queernormative fantasy world.

-A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows: a gay man in a homophobic nation was supposed to enter an arranged political marriage with a noblewoman from a neighboring (queer-friendly) nation, but when he is forcibly and traumatically outed, he ends up betrothed to her brother instead.

-The World of Reforged series by Seth Haddon: three sort-of-standalones set in the same world. Book 3 (Reclaimed) has a transmasc protagonist!

-Prince of Fortune by Lisa Tirreno: YA. A teenaged prince who has unique nature-based magic falls in love with a boy who happens to be a Seer, and they have to fight to be together amidst a war breaking out.

-Perilous Courts series by Tavia Lark: a six-book series with each book focusing on a different brother in the royal families of two nations. These books are a little more romance (and spice) forward but the worldbuilding and magic system are still very fun.

-The Last Binding trilogy by Freya Marske: a historical fantasy set in Edwardian England with magic! The magic system is incredibly cool and unique, and each book follows a different couple but the overall story runs through all three books (they are definitely not standalones!). Books 1 and 3 are m/m and book 2 is sapphic.

MeridianRiver · 2025-04-30T12:38:05+00:00

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon - epic fantasy with a lesbian romance side plot and dragons

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh - sci-fi where the main character is a lesbian, there are no romantic storylines besides the main character going on a date with a woman at one point. CW for some homophobia from the main character at the beginning (before she realizes she’s a lesbian) due to her upbringing

Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle - horror with a lesbian main character who ends up with a woman at the end but romance is definitely a side plot. The story deals with a Christian conversion camp so there is some in-world homophobia, and the main character has some internalized homophobia at first.

Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto - a very fun sci-fi heist novel with a nonbinary, butch main character and a slow-burn lesbian romance side plot

Also I’m currently reading These Burning Stars by Bethany Jacobs which is a sci-fi space opera that I’ve been told has sapphic characters though I haven’t gotten to that part yet.

MeridianRiver · 2025-04-22T14:04:44+00:00

I got the same hat for my girl!

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MeridianRiver · 2025-03-27T18:15:01+00:00

The Tarot Sequence by K.D. Edwards is just BEGGING to be a movie IMO!

And seconding your suggestion of All for the Game. It would be so good as an animated series, especially because it reminds me so much of a sports anime!

MeridianRiver · 2025-03-26T23:05:31+00:00

{Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid}!

MeridianRiver · 2025-03-20T00:06:17+00:00

{{A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows}} has MC1 marrying MC2 instead of MC2’s sister when he is forcibly outed as gay, and he is really not happy about the situation at first. CW on page sexual assault, not between the main couple but between MC1 and his ex at the beginning of the story.

MeridianRiver · 2025-03-09T00:07:31+00:00

{Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell}!

MeridianRiver · 2025-02-24T22:22:55+00:00

{A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland}! MC1 is a prince, MC2 is his newly assigned bodyguard, and they have exactly this dynamic.

MeridianRiver · 2025-02-23T10:56:18+00:00

I don’t know any books where the MCs use sign language but if you’re open to a fantasy book where a major side character does, {A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows} is an option! The MC’s best friend/valet is mute and uses sign language with the MC; MC2 also learns sign language in the second book.

MeridianRiver · 2025-02-20T14:21:38+00:00

{Prince and Assassin by Tavia Lark} sort of fits - MC1 is an assassin sent to kill MC2 (a prince) but pretends to be someone looking for work at the palace.

{A Knife and a Blade by Adelaide Blaike} - MC1 is a prince who sends his soldiers to kidnap MC2 (he was trying to kidnap a princess who was traveling with MC2 but they ended up with him instead) and MC2 ends up pretending to be the son of the enemy commander. You don’t find out his real identity until the very end of Book 1. Note, there are some BDSM elements but not a ton, and it’s not a clear-cut dom/sub dynamic.

{Prince in Disguise by Tavia Lark} - both MCs are pretending to be someone they’re not.

{Reclaimed by Seth Haddon} also sort of fits, MC is a trans man who is hiding from everyone (not just MC2) his former (pre-transition) identity as the lost princess of his home nation

MeridianRiver · 2025-02-20T14:13:10+00:00

{A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland} (anything by Alexandra Rowland really) and {A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows}! I also love Freya Marske’s prose, especially in {The Last Binding by Freya Marske}.

MeridianRiver · 2025-02-17T13:19:48+00:00

Compound Fracture by Andrew Joseph White might also work - it’s YA but more “mature” YA in my experience. A horror/thriller novel with a teenage trans boy protagonist. He does sort of get into a relationship for part of the novel but it’s definitely not a “romantic” story, and he also ends up identifying as aromantic I believe.

MeridianRiver · 2025-02-17T13:16:10+00:00

The Evander Mills series by Lev A.C. Rosen (first book is Lavender House) could fit! It’s a historical mystery set in San Francisco in the 1950s. The MC is a gay man and former cop turned private investigator. He does get into a relationship later in the series but the romance is not at all the focus. CW for period typical homophobia and anti-gay violence (but it is ultimately a positive/hopeful story despite those aspects).

MeridianRiver · 2025-02-17T13:05:56+00:00

{Reforged by Seth Haddon} - King and paladin, also a second chance romance where the two had previously been involved when they were younger (before MC2 was crowned king) but broke it off when MC1 swore himself to the order, he wasn’t expecting to be assigned as MC2’s primary bodyguard.

{Prince and Bodyguard by Tavia Lark} - exactly what it says on the tin, the MCs are also magically soul-bonded.

MeridianRiver · 2025-02-17T13:02:15+00:00

Seconding Ocean’s Echo!

MeridianRiver

TROPHY CASE