Hi everyone! In anticipation of our upcoming Reading Challenge Month, I decided to compile a list of favorite LGBTQ books set around the world to help give folks some ideas for the Around the World Challenge Week. For this list, rather than just including Joyfully Jay reviewer favorites like we normally do in our Favorites Lists, I put a call out to readers online for suggestions and got TONS! Seriously, you guys are amazing! So while we can not vouch for all of these books personally, we have lots of great reader suggestions included here. And everything we have read and reviewed highly is linked so you can check out the reviews for those books.
Since it seems that the vast majority of romances are set in either the US or England, I didn’t include those here since they would overwhelm the list (though I do include some of our favorite British authors who write a lot set there at the end of this post). And of course, the vast majority of historicals are set in the UK as well, so you can check those out if you want to see all our historical reviews.
So here we go with a combination of both reader favorites and Joyfully Jay favorites! And please, if you have anything to add, definitely put it in the comments and I’ll add it to the list!
Australia/New Zealand
- The Blinding Light by Renae Kaye
- Butterfly Hunter by Julie Bozza
- Coming Out In Cooper’s Crossing by Jayne DeMarco
- Down Under by Tam Ames
- Elf on the Beach by T.J. Nichols
- Evolved by N.R. Walker
- Galaxies and Oceans by N.R. Walker
- Holland Brothers series by Toni Griffin
- Kereru Rising by Kate Roman
- Langs Down series by Ariel Tachna
- Leather + Lace by A.B. Gayle
- Loving Jay by Renae Kaye
- My Christmas Present by Toni Griffin
- A Note in the Margin by Isabelle Rowan
- One Last Kiss Goodbye by N.J. Nielsen
- One More Ride by J. Hepburn
- On Davis Row by N.R. Walker
- Private Charter by N.R. Walker
- The Pearl by Geoffrey Knight
- Red Dirt Heart by N.R. Walker
- Rock by Anyta Sunday
- Rustic series by Nic Starr
- Safe in His Arms by Renae Kaye
- Shawn’s Law by Renae Kaye
- Slow Dreaming by Anne Barwell
- Switched by N.R. Walker
- The Station by Keira Andrews
- Tigers and Devils series by Sean Kennedy
- Undercover Blues by Laney Cairo
- Whitewater by Meredith Shayne
- You are the Reason by Renae Kaye
- And pretty much anything by N.R. Walker!
Europe/Middle East
- All Roads Lead to You by Harper Fox
- An American Homo in Paris by Vanessa North
- Apollo’s Curse by Brad Vance
- The Auspicious Troubles of Chance by Charlie Cochet
- Between Ghosts by Garrett Leigh
- Between the Frescoes by Kay Berrisford
- Blue Notes by Shira Anthony
- Broken Blades by Aleksandr Voinov
- Call Me By Your Name by Andrew Aciman
- Came Upon a Midnight Clear by Katie Porter
- Cervena by Louise Lyons
- Chariots on the Highway by Limor Moyal
- The Chimera Affair by Keira Andrews
- Christmas Eve at the Purple Owl Cafe by Cora Buhlert
- Dead Run by Josh Lanyon
- Desert Heat by Lucy Felthouse
- The Devil Lancer by Astrid Amara
- Finnshifters series by Tia Fielding
- The Florentine Treasure by Rowan Speedwell
- The French Have a Word for It by Josh Lanyon
- The Gladiator’s Master by Fae Sutherland and Marguerite Labbe
- Glen and Tyler series by J.B. Sanders (books 2-4)
- Ivan vs Ivan by Princess SO
- Jefferson Blythe, Esquire by Josh Lanyon
- The Last Enemy by Christian Beck
- Latakia by J.F. Smith
- Lay It Down by Mary Calmes
- Love in Germany series by Chris McHart
- Love Like the Medici by Edmond Manning
- The Magic of Weihnachten by Bru Baker
- Mark of the Gladiator By Heidi Belleau and Violetta Vane
- Midnight in Berlin by J.L. Merrow
- More series by T.T. Kove
- New Amsterdam series by Kelly Wyre
- Nightingale by Aleksandr Voinov
- Out of the Blue by Josh Lanyon
- Paris A to Z by Marie Sexton
- Patchwork Paradise by Indra Vaughn
- The Pillar by Kim Fielding
- Pharoah’s Manicurist by Angela Sparrow
- Polar Nights by T.T. Kove
- Poster Boy by Anne Tenino
- The Prince’s Psalm by Eric Shaw Quinn
- The Red King by Rosemary O’Malley
- Road to Revenge by Mell Eight
- A Royal Affair by John Wiltshire
- Skybound by Aleksandr Voinov
- Softpaw by Beryll & Osiris Brackhause
- Solo Honeymoon by Lisa Worrall
- Spanish Nights by Cecelia Tan
- Stolen Summer by S.A. Meade
- The Tameness of the Wolf by Kendall McKenna
- Tell Me When series by Mia West
- Temper Sanguine by Lou Harper
- A Time to Rise by Tal Bauer
- Small Steps by Chris McHart
- To Summon Nightmares by J.K. Pendragon
- Tournament of Shadows by S.A. Meade
- Turkish Delights by Trina Lane
- Unexpected series by Chris McHart
- Unhinge the Universe by Aleksandr Voinov and L.A. Witt
- Until We Meet Once More by Josh Lanyon
- Venetian Masks by Kim Fielding
- Werewolves of Chernobyl by K.A. Merikan and L.A. Witt
- A Wolf’s Resistance by T.J. Nichols
Goodreads also has a list of books set in ancient Rome
Canada and Iceland
- 911 series by Chris Owen
- Beer and Clay series by Sean Michael
- Beneath the Surface by Kate Sherwood
- The Better to Kiss you With by Michelle Osgood
- Breakaway by Avon Gale
- Bull Rider by Jade Buchanan
- Fall Hard by J.L. Merrow
- First Steps by Sean Michael
- French Wine series by Thom Lane
- Gold Digger by Aleksandr Voinov
- Gym Dandy by Storm Grant
- Happy by Chris Scully
- Here There Be Dragons by T.A. Chase
- Horsfall series by Jade Buchanan
- Ian & David series by Jaime Samms
- The Island Keepers by Kristopher Quentin
- Light by Nathan Burgoine
- Lost Boys & Love Letters by Bethany Brown
- More Than Chemistry by Kate Sherwood
- Nights Like These by Chris Scully
- On Fire series by Drew Zachary
- Terror of the Frozen North by Angela Sparrow
- Triad Blood by Nathan Burgoine
- Toronto Tales series by K.C. Burn
- Undead Canadian series by T. Strange
- Until September by Chris Scully
- US by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy (?)
- A Winter in Rome by Francis Gideon
- Wolf Town series by Joely Skye
Asia/South Pacific
- Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews
- Conduct Unbecoming and General Misconduct by L.A. Witt
- Fitting In by Sandra Bard
- Flight Risk by L.A. Witt
- The Island by Lisa Henry
- The Last Concubine by Catt Ford
- Learning How to Lose, in Six Easy Steps by Alex Gabriel
- Made in China: The Great Wall by Z. Allora
- Palace Dog by R.E. Nelson
- The Protector by N.L. Gassert
- Razor Wire by L.A. Wittt
- Red Thread of Forever Love by Nicole Kimberling
- Spice & Smoke by Suleikha Snyder
- Would It Be Okay to Love You series by Amy Tasakuda
Antarctica
- August Ice by Dev Bentham
- Ice by L.J. LaBarthe
- Polar Reaction by Claire Thompson
- White Out by Heidi Champa
Mexico, South/Central America and Caribbean
- Amor Prohibido by Ellis Carrington
- The Argentine Seduction by Keira Andrews
- The Path by Ariel Tachna
- Pestilence by T.A. Chase
- Southern Cross series by KC Kendricks
Africa
- Blood & Milk by N.R. Walker
- The Chameleon’s Tale by Andrea Bramhall
- Famine by T.A. Chase
And some authors who write great stuff set in England/UK:
- Alexis Hall
- Ava March
- Clare London
- Harper Fox
- Jay Northcote
- J.L. Merrow
- Joanna Chambers
- Josephine Myles
- K.J. Charles
- Susan MacNicol
You can also check out the International Men of Sports series by T.A. Chase and Devon Rhodes, which has books set all over the world. And Goodreads has a list of books set outside the US you can check out as well.
P.S. I had a few folks suggest books where I was unable to figure out what country they were so I had to leave them off. So please if you add suggestions, let me know where the books are set. Thanks!
Thanks for the list! Great fodder for the TBR pile (which doesn’t really need to be fed, but what the heck).