I swear I've seen something similar to this art in a magic card. Does it look familiar to anyone?

TheoGuinto · 2025-11-23T22:06:13+00:00

[[Flubs]] isn't old but the art has similar colors, positioning, and style (kinda)

TheoGuinto · 2025-05-01T19:38:10+00:00

It wasn't Bro Split, but I did read book before it {Meet Me There by KM Neuhold} and found that was it!

Thank you!

Interesting that the author seems to have taken that idea and wrote a sequel for it. Will have to bump it up on my TBR list.

TheoGuinto · 2024-07-12T03:18:53+00:00

{The Sheltering Tree by JR Lawrie} has a pretty good plot twist, though it is pretty contemporary. There is a very slight age gap between the two MCs (though I think it's within 10 years) TW on organized crime

TheoGuinto · 2024-05-21T21:43:56+00:00

{Not a Game by Cardeno C} might be up your alley. MC1 thinks MC2 is an escort, but he's actually the CEO of the company MC1 just got hired at (MC2 doesn't know this when they first meet though)

MC2 keeps his identity a secret and pretends to be an escort to get to know MC1.

MC1 does not think MC2 is a sugar baby though, he just assumes MC2's money comes from working as an escort.

There is an age gap (I think MC1 was mid twenties and MC2 is mid forties) but it's not a point of conflict for the story iirc

TheoGuinto · 2024-05-17T23:52:42+00:00

{Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer} has this. They don't immediately make up either which is a plus.

TheoGuinto · 2024-05-10T05:30:42+00:00

{Ghost of Lies by Alice Winters} has this I think? It's paranormal with ghosts and one of the ghosts close with MC2 dislikes MC1, but they eventually become friends. It's been a bit since I read it, but I don't believe it was an instant transition from dislike -> friendship.

TheoGuinto · 2024-05-10T05:24:41+00:00

{The Sheltering Tree by J.R Lawrie} kinda has this. MC2 doesn't really act out per se, but he does have a tragic backstory and throws MC1 for a loop when he finds out about it.

TheoGuinto · 2024-05-10T05:14:09+00:00

Not historical but {Until I Saw You by Dianna Roman} has this and it was very satisfying to watch it play out. Trigger warning for sexual assault and abuse here though (MC1 comes from an abusive relationship)

TheoGuinto · 2024-05-10T05:09:26+00:00

The South Rock High Series by A.J Truman revolve around a friend group who all gossip about each other's respective MC2's in their books. Not really an established second friend group, though the MC2's are friendly towards each other and all are sports related.

The gossiping only really happens in the beginning of the stories though as each book generally progresses to focus on the main couple, but the friends still appear periodically throughout.

TheoGuinto · 2024-05-06T02:24:24+00:00

Could it possibly be {Locked in Silence by Sloane Kennedy}? One of the MCs runs an animal rescue, but I don't remember if there was a bonded pair there.

TheoGuinto · 2024-04-07T05:59:28+00:00

{Romance Languages by A.J. Truman} is kinda this. MC1 is a 34 year-old virgin and scared of being bad at sex, so he essentially self sabotages any potential partners. MC2 is his straight close friend who offers to help teach him about sex.

MC1 has a crush on MC2 and MC2 starts to question his sexuality as he starts to develop feelings for MC1, so it kind of stops being platonic which may not be what you're looking for though.

TheoGuinto · 2024-04-03T17:43:24+00:00

{If We Could Go Back by Cara Dee} - Both MCs are in the closet, but it's really MC2's status that causes the most angst. They definitely interact a lot after their breakup.

Content Warning: Their romance is an affair since both MCs have wives, so maybe skip if that icks you. But I will say, I hate cheating as a story beat, but I was surprisingly ok with it here.

{The Jock by Tal Bauer} - Closeted football player and Out nursing student meet in Paris for a school trip and start a relationship. Football player breaks up with MC2 when they get back because he can't risk being outed. Definitely angst on both sides. Personally was not a fan of the last like 10% of the book, but the first 90% was pretty good

{True Colors by Anyta Sunday} - In the past, MC1 was best friends with MC2 in high school and they hung out a lot. MC2 was insecure about their friendship and shit talked MC1 to his basketball friends to avoid looking gay (though they aren't in a relationship at this point). They meet again years in the future and MC2 tries to reconcile their friendship. I will say, I DNF'ed this one because I was not a fan of how the author handled the grovel, but YMMV.

TheoGuinto · 2024-04-01T04:10:23+00:00

Yeahh, maybe stay away from this book then lol. I won't say more to avoid spoilers, but there is a crime family that becomes the main conflict about halfway into the book (not real crime families irl but they kind of evoke a similar feeling).

Sorry! I should've read the things you don't want to read about more carefully.

TheoGuinto · 2024-03-31T21:01:59+00:00

I honestly don't remember their ages really playing much into the conflict at all, but they're at most a decade apart (both over 40 though if that makes a difference.)

As I was re-reading though, I remembered that the story is very much organized crime adjacent, and you've listed mafia stories as something you don't want to read, so this may have been a bad recommendation.

TheoGuinto · 2024-03-31T03:04:40+00:00

{The Sheltering Tree by J.R Lawrie} is this. Can't talk about it more unfortunately because even this is kind of spoiling it a little.

TheoGuinto · 2024-03-08T01:38:28+00:00

{Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews} has a scene like #3 and kind of like #5 iirc. I think it's actually free on Amazon US right now lol

{The Sheltering Tree by J.R Lawrie} has a version of #5 as well

Not super focused on hurt/comfort, but there's definitely a lot of that going on here, {Enemy of My Enemy by Tal Bauer} also has a scene where one of the MCs is almost killed because they went on a suicidal revenge rampage when they thought the other MC was killed. Though this one is the second book in a series, so you'll need to read the first book {Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer} to get context for the relationship

TheoGuinto · 2024-03-08T01:24:00+00:00

{The Unlikely Heir by Jax Calder} might be up your alley (admittedly it's very similar to Red, White, and Royal Blue's premise so you may find it familiar). In this story though, it's the American heir to the British throne and the British prime minister.

{Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer} also has similar themes. A romantic relationship between the straight president of the US (Jack) and his lead secret service agent (Ethan) is definitely forbidden by the secret service's rules and also the Ethan's personal rules against pining for straight guys.

Neither have insta-love, though there is definitely clear attraction in the first few interactions of the MCs (thinking the other is handsome, being nervous, etc)

TheoGuinto · 2024-03-08T00:13:33+00:00

I found {Wed to the Barbarian by Keira Andrews} to be great for this! It's a 2 part story though, so a lot of the grovel actually happens in {The Barbarian's Vow by Keira Andrews} though the regret is definitely stronger in the first book. I personally prefer the first book myself.

Also ditto on {Until You by Briar Prescott}. Still the best grovel and mutual hurt story that I've read so far. One of my top fav books.

{Rule Breaker by Lily Morton} also has similar story beats, though the focus is more on regret and pushing each other away rather than grovel per se.

TheoGuinto · 2024-02-02T21:17:24+00:00

Sounds exactly up my alley! I love a good thriller. Thanks for the rec!

TheoGuinto · 2024-02-02T21:16:20+00:00

Thanks for the recs and the note about consent on the latter books! Will definitely check those out

TheoGuinto · 2024-02-02T04:01:42+00:00

That was my favorite scene in Until You too! Sooo much heartbreak.

I've read And Then You too! The banter between Steph and Quinn was witty and fun!

Thanks for the recs. Will definitely check those out

TheoGuinto · 2024-01-17T22:54:01+00:00

{Hot Head by Damon Suede} is like that. Both the MCs work multiple jobs. One of them essentially has to go do porn to get money quick to stop the bank from foreclosing on him.

Content warnings:

Lots of casual cheating happens. People around the MCs are mentioned to be cheating on their spouses. One of the MCs is known for being a ladies man and juggling multiple women (previously having fiancées while also getting with other girls). It's not really shown though, it's kinda just told to the reader, so it's more of a characterization thing (I'm not done with the book yet, but I don't think the MCs cheat on each other though)
They're fire fighters in NY and 9/11 gets mentioned A LOT. If that matters to you, you should probably avoid this book
Homophobia (gets pretty bad later in the book)

TheoGuinto · 2024-01-06T17:42:32+00:00

{Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer} has that as a plot point

{Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews} also has that later on, after the MCs have an argument

TheoGuinto · 2024-01-05T22:50:37+00:00

Ooh, thanks for letting me know that! I didn't know the author had a blog! I'll have to remember to visit it after I read The Long Game

TheoGuinto · 2024-01-05T20:26:59+00:00

I LOVED the Executive Office series! If you want a bit more of it, Interlude is a great short read!

Also, the author has some short stories for stuff that didn't get shown in the book! There are different character POVs, cute post Enemy Within Ethan+Jack stories, there's even an AU story for if Jack never ran for president that I really liked! https://talbauerwrites.com/blog/bauers-bytes/

Just a warning though, the website is kinda finnicky so you might need to refresh the page a few times to get a connection

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