The Recommended Reading Order
The Straight Guys series by Alessandra Hazard is a contemporary M/M romance sensation built on the "gay-for-you" trope. While each novel functions as a standalone romance featuring a distinct couple, the characters are heavily interconnected through friendships, family ties, and workplace relationships. For the best reading experience, it is highly recommended to follow the publication order. This lets you catch every cameo, understand the recurring jokes, and watch relationships develop in the background of other books.
Here is the complete reading path for the series:
- Book 0.5: Straight Boy (2014) – Sage and Roman. (A prequel novella setting up the universe).
- Book 1: Just a Bit Twisted (2014) – Shawn Wyatt and Professor Derek Rutledge.
- Book 2: Just a Bit Obsessed (2014) – Christian Ashford and Alexander Sheldon.
- Book 3: Just a Bit Unhealthy (2015) – Jared Sheldon and Gabriel DuVal.
- Book 4: Just a Bit Wrong (2015) – Zach Hardaway and Tristan DuVal.
- Book 5: Just a Bit Confusing (2015) – Ryan and Jamie Grayson.
- Book 6: Just a Bit Ruthless (2016) – Luke and Roman.
- Book 7: Just a Bit Wicked (2016) – Vlad and Sebastian.
- Book 8: Just a Bit Shameless (2017) – Sam and Jory.
- Book 9: Just a Bit Gay (2018) – Tyler and Dominic.
- Book 10: Just a Bit Dirty (2019) – Miles Hardaway and Derek.
- Book 11: Just a Bit Wrecked (2020) – Andrew and Logan.
- Book 12: Just a Bit Bossy (2021) – Nate and Raf.
- Book 13: Just a Bit Heartless (2022) – Damian and Silas.
- Book 14: Just a Bit Captivated (2023) – Arthur and Edward.
- Book 15: Just a Bit Guarded (2025) – Andrew and Sean.
- Book 16: Just a Bit Crushed (Upcoming Summer 2026) – Featuring Scott Palmer.
Why Read in Publication Order?
Although Alessandra Hazard designs each book to stand on its own, reading them out of order can lead to minor spoilers and confusion regarding character dynamics. For example, characters who struggle with their feelings and identity in one book will often show up as a happily married, well-adjusted couple in a later book's background. If you read the books out of order, you might see them happy together before you read the story of how they fought to get there.
Reading in publication order also helps you appreciate the slow expansion of the series' character web. Alessandra Hazard gradually builds a complex network of friends, relatives, and professional associates. Watching characters from earlier books give advice (or meddle in the lives of) newer protagonists is one of the most rewarding aspects of the series for long-time fans.
Character Connections and Family Trees
The true heart of the Straight Guys reading experience lies in its dense web of character relationships. These are not completely isolated stories; rather, they form a shared universe centered around a few key families and social circles. The two most prominent families that tie many of the books together are the Sheldon and Hardaway families.
Here are some of the key connections to keep in mind as you read:
- The Cousins: Alexander Sheldon (Book 2) and Jared Sheldon (Book 3) are cousins. Their family ties connect the college campus setting of the early books with the professional sports world.
- The Brothers: Gabriel DuVal (Book 3) and Tristan DuVal (Book 4) are adoptive brothers and teammates. Tristan, in turn, is the half-brother of James Grayson (Book 5), linking the professional sports books directly to the lifelong-friends romance.
- The Hardaways: Zach Hardaway (Book 4) and Miles Hardaway (Book 10) represent another key family line that crosses international borders, bridging stories set in the United States and the United Kingdom.
- Early Connections: Shawn Wyatt (Book 1) is cousins with Sage (Book 0.5) and best friends with Christian Ashford (Book 2), meaning the first three books form a highly concentrated, local group of friends before the series expands outward.
What to Know Before You Start
Alessandra Hazard’s style is distinct and polarizes some romance readers, making it essential to understand what you are getting into before you start. The series heavily utilizes the "gay-for-you" and "straight-to-gay" tropes, where ostensibly straight men find themselves experiencing intense, singular attractions to other men. These stories frequently explore the psychological confusion and denial that accompanies this shift in identity.
Furthermore, Hazard is famous for her depiction of highly intense, possessive, and obsessive relationship dynamics. Many of the couples feature characters who are codependent or display borderline-toxic behavior before finding their footing. Consent can sometimes blur in the heat of passion, which has drawn both criticism for problematic themes and high praise from fans who love the raw, uninhibited emotional high of "crack-tastic" romance. If you prefer mild, low-angst, or traditional sweet romances, this series might be an adjustment; however, if you enjoy high-intensity drama and characters who are utterly consumed by each other, it is highly addictive.
Spin-offs and the Wider "Hazard-verse"
Once you finish the Straight Guys series, you can explore Alessandra Hazard's other works. While they do not have direct narrative crossovers with the Straight Guys contemporary universe, they share similar themes and character dynamics:
- Calluvia's Royalty: A sci-fi romance series focusing on the royal families and telepathic bond dynamics of the planet Calluvia.
- The Wrong Alpha: An Omegaverse series set in the same intergalactic system as Calluvia's Royalty, blending sci-fi with classic werewolf/omegaverse tropes.
- The Masters Series: Includes works like Wicked Game, which acts as a spin-off directly tied to the Calluvia's Royalty sci-fi universe.